Sweetness and Light
by Energybeing
Summary: Xander goes on his road trip a few years later than he had originally planned.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: this story takes place between Season 6 and 7 of Buffy, and at the beginning of Season 4 for Gilmore Girls. I do not own either of these programs, nor will I ever do so. So please don't me for using them.

~*~

Xander had come up with the idea as he watched Giles and Willow head off into the airport, hurrying to catch their flight to England.

They were leaving Sunnydale. Spike had gone gallivanting off somewhere after trying to rape Buffy. Anya was a Vengeance Demon again, and she'd gone gallivanting off to smite men.

The only people left in Sunnydale were him, Buffy and Dawn. And, really, Buffy was just getting over being dead for a few months, and could really do with some quality time alone with her sister.

Xander had earned a fair bit of money as a carpenter, and he hadn't really spent much of it (except for that disastrous wedding). He could, for example, buy a car. Or at least put a down payment on one. And not an old clunker like the one he'd had before, that had died in Oxnard. A proper one.

One that he could actually have a road trip in.

He didn't want to do his grand tour of all 50 states anymore (not that he could've driven to Hawaii anyway), but Xander did want some time away from Sunnydale. Away from the constant fighting and problems he'd had to endure for the last few years, ever since he'd first met Buffy.

Xander would come back, of course. He had responsibilities here. A job. Friends. He wasn't about to throw all of that away. He'd just be gone for the summer.

He'd be back, but right then, Xander just wanted to _get out_.

So Xander arranged with his boss to get a few weeks of leave, citing family reasons.

Then he told Buffy.

Buffy wasn't happy. But then he hadn't expected her to be. Xander tried to explain to her that he just needed to get out, that he couldn't do this anymore.

She seemed to understand. But then, Buffy had done the same thing, when she had run away to LA. She didn't like it, but she understood.

Dawn didn't. She thought that he was leaving her, just like everyone always did. Xander was painfully reminded that Dawn's wish to Halfrek had been to have people stay.

But he couldn't. He needed time away from Sunnydale. He promised that he would be back by the time she started her next grade. Xander was pretty sure Dawn didn't believe him, even though she pretended she did.

It almost broke his heart to leave her. But Xander just had to get out.

~*~

_Several weeks later_

Xander pulled up outside what seemed to be pretty much the only diner in Stars Hollow. He was on his way back to California now. He still had a week and a half before Dawn started back at Sunnydale High (and Xander really had a bad feeling about that place being opened again) so he could afford to take a little time.

"Cheeseburger with fries and a milkshake, please." Xander said, sitting at the bar.

"Coming right up." the man wearing a baseball cap standing behind the counter replied.

Xander was halfway through his burger when he heard a loud bang from behind him. He instinctively ducked and whirled around, eyes darting around as he searched for the source of the sound.

You could take the man out of the Hellmouth town, but not the Hellmouth town out of the man.

"You alright down there?" Baseball Cap said drily.

Xander straightened. "Yeah, sure. Hold on a sec."

Then he got up and walked out, because he'd seen what had caused the noise.

Someone was trying (and failing) to tow his car.

"Hey! That's my car!" Xander yelled. "What are you doing?"

A balding man replied "You're not allowed to leave a vehicle on this spot on the last Thursday of the month, because it will interfere with the soldiers' manoeuvres."

Xander exaggeratedly looked up and down the street. "There aren't any soldiers. So leave my car alone."

Balding Guy raised a finger and waggled it infuriatingly under Xander's nose. "No, but there could be. Indeed, during the Civil War, there would've been."

Xander looked at the sky, hoping it might give him patience. It didn't. "Look, you're clearly crazy, so I'm not going to sue you for trying to tow my car, but if you don't call off that guy you've conned into doing your dirty work, I'll do something I'll probably regret. But not as much as you would."

"Should I stop, sir?" the man trying to attach Xander's car to the tow truck asked.

"No, Kirk." Balding Guy replied. "Keep going."

"Now, listen here." Xander said, taking a step forward. Balding Guy took a step back.

"Look, just give the kid his car back, Taylor." Baseball Cap growled from the doorway.

"I can't, Luke. It's the law." Balding Guy - Taylor replied, fluttering his hands in front of him. "He can have it back in three weeks."

"_Three weeks!_" Xander screamed. "I'm not staying here for three weeks because my car is stopping non-existent soldiers from going out on manoeuvres!"

"That's the law." Taylor said, with a shrug. "I don't make the rules, I just enforce them."

"Come on, you can't just steal my car!"

"I'm not, it's just going to be impounded. But the law's the law, even if it is a few hundred years old." Taylor replied calmly. "I can't change it."

Baseball Cap, otherwise known as Luke, put his hand on Xander's shoulder. "Go inside and finish your burger. I'll talk to him."

Xander opened his mouth to protest, but then realised that if he talked to Taylor for much longer he'd probably whip out the stake he had tucked in his back pocket and stab him, and that would get him in a whole world of trouble.

Although, if the expressions on the faces of crowd of people who had gathered to watch Taylor and Luke's dispute were anything to go by, he'd probably get a medal as well.

Xander was sure of one thing, though. He wouldn't be missing Dawn's first day of school. No matter what happened.

~*~

As it turned out, Xander would be missing Dawn's first day of school. Taylor wouldn't be moved, unlike Xander's car, which Kirk had finally managed to tow away.

Apparently, Xander's only chance was at the town meeting in a week. Luke said that Xander should be able to get the town on his side then. Then they might be able to get Taylor to repeal his out-of-date law.

Still, if Xander drove like crazy, he should be able to make to Dawn's first day. But he still had to find somewhere to stay for a week.

"Hey, Luke, is it?" Xander asked. Luke nodded. "Well, Luke, do you know if there's a place in town I can stay for a week?"

Luke opened his mouth to reply, but a woman burst in, plonked herself down next to Xander, and said "Luke, I need to borrow your truck."

"Wait a second." Luke said to Xander. "What do you need my truck for?"

"To take Rory's stuff to Yale, of course." the woman replied, as though it was obvious.

"I thought you were using your car for that." Luke said tiredly.

"Well I could, but Rory's got a lot of stuff. I'd be driving back and forth all day. With your truck it would only be one, maybe two trips."

"Fine." Luke said, exasperatedly, reaching into a pocket for his keys. Then he hesitated. "Hang on. Lorelai, could someone stay in the Dragonfly?"

"Luke, you've seen the place. It won't be fit for people to live there for months."

"Sorry, kid." Luke said to Xander. "Our only inn burned down a while ago, and Lorelai's new one isn't habitable yet."

Lorelai looked at Xander for the first time. "You another one of Luke's nephews?"

Before Xander had a chance to reply, Luke said "No, the kid was just passing through when Taylor stole his car."

"Really? Do tell!" Lorelai said, leaning on the bar. Xander told her what had happened as succinctly as possible.

"Tell you what, kid." Luke said. "Lorelai can give you a lift to wherever you want to go in my truck."

"Thanks, but unless you want to drive all the way to California, I don't think that's really going to work out." Xander said bitterly.

"Hey, you're a valley boy! You ever been to Beverly Hills, Valley Boy?" Lorelai asked excitedly.

"Leave the kid alone, Lorelai." Luke said. "He doesn't need a torrent of pop culture references directed at him."

"It's Xander, actually. Not kid, or Valley Boy." Xander said, acidly. "And, if you don't mind, I'll have a look at the inn and see if I can make a room habitable for a week."

"Unless you're a carpenter or something, you'll be sleeping on a rotting floor." Lorelai warned.

"Good thing I'm like Jesus then." Xander replied.

Lorelai frowned. "You can do miracles?"

"I'm a carpenter. I worked construction back home." Xander corrected.

Lorelai let out a moue of disappointment. "Shame. We could do with a Jesus around."

"I think Taylor would crucify me." Xander said drily.

Lorelai laughed. "Oh, I _like_ you. Can I keep him, Luke? Can I?"

"Leave him be, Lorelai." Luke said.

Lorelai gave Xander a sidelong look. "I'll tell you what. My daughter's going off to university in a couple of days. You can take her room for a week, if you help out fixing the inn."

"You- you're asking me to move in with you?" Xander asked, baffled.

Lorelai nudged him with her shoulder. "I'm sure we can work out some kind of... arrangement." Lorelai said seductively.

Xander blushed tomato red. "I - you - uh - what - um - I" he stammered.

"Don't mind her. She delights in making people uncomfortable." Luke said, smiling.

"Yeah, but I've never made anyone turn into a gibbering wreck before." Lorelai said, watching Xander in fascination. "Rory's going to love this."

Luke clapped Xander on the shoulder. "Good luck, kid. You're going to need it."


	2. Chapter 2

Xander thought that there must be some law of physics that said that every small town had to have something weird going on in it. Sunnydale, for example, was on the Hellmouth.

Stars Hollow, on the other hand, had a crazy car-stealing man and woman who asked him to stay with her for a week about five minutes after meeting him and proceeded to make him babble incoherently in a way that Xander hadn't been since - well, probably since he'd first met Ms Calendar.

Oh, the good old days of _To read makes our speaking English good._ Since then, Xander had learned to babble in grammatically correct sentences - well, more or less.

Still, Xander knew which type of craziness he preferred.

Yep, give him a good, old fashioned demon anytime.

So, Xander wasn't entirely sure how he managed to end up in Luke's truck with Lorelai heading out to meet Rory, whoever he was.

"So, what brings you to Connecticut, Valley Jesus?" Lorelai asked conversationally.

"Oh, I heard you had a lot of wine up here, so I thought I'd turn it into wood." Xander said, looking out the window and thinking "_What am I doing? If I start hitch hiking now, I might just make it home in time..._"

"You'd be on to a better thing if you could turn wine into coffee. Trust me, Rory and I would be your first converts." Lorelai remarked.

"I'll bear that in mind." Xander replied. "And my name's still Xander, by the way. As flattering as being called Jesus is, I'd rather stick with that."

"But then I can't tell people that I'm living with Jesus. Can you imagine it - Lorelai Gilmore, housemate to Jesus? Front page stuff, don't you think?"

"Oh sure, sure. I guess I can't call you the Coffee Guzzler, can I?" Xander said without thinking.

Lorelai shrugged. "I've been called worse. Do I get to speak in a funny voice, like the Cookie Monster? Because I won't take the job otherwise, Mister Jesus."

"I'll make you a deal. If you can speak like the Cookie Monster for the next week, you can call me whatever you like." Xander said.

Lorelai nudged him. "Is that a promise?" she said in a sultry voice.

Xander blushed. "I - you - can you not do that?" he spluttered.

Lorelai cleared her throat. "Coffee Guzzler says that's no fun!" she said, in a passable Cookie Monster voice.

Xander grinned. "No way are you going to keep that up for a week."

"We'll see." Lorelai - the Coffee Guzzler replied, grinning back. "Ah, look, we're home, Valley Jesus."

Lorelai turned down the driveway to see a girl sitting amongst a pile of bags.

"Hey, Rory!" Lorelai called, still doing a full-on Cookie Monster impersonation. "Come meet Valley Jesus!"

Xander put his head in his hands. "Can I, just once, not meet a pretty girl in the most embarrassing way possible?" he murmured into his palms.

"Rory, this is Valley Jesus. Taylor stole his car, so he's staying here for a week until he can get it back. Valley Jesus, this is my daughter Rory. She's going off to Yale and leaving poor old Cookie Guzzler all alone."

Xander scratched his chest. "Wait, Rory's a girl? Were you hoping for a son or something?"

"It's short for Lorelai, uh, Jesus?" Rory said uncertainly, extending a hand.

"Xander." Xander corrected, taking the hand. "And are you short on names in your family, or something?"

"Hey, at least I wasn't named after a fish." Rory shot back, dropping Xander's hand.

"Alexander's a fish?" Xander said, frowning.

"Zander is." Rory said. "Why not Alex?"

"My best friend couldn't manage to say Alex when we were kids. Xander stuck." Xander explained.

"That's why he goes by Jesus now." Lorelai said in a normal voice. Then, realizing she had slipped, she said in her Coffee Guzzler voice "Oh, damn."

"Ha! Gotcha!" Xander crowed triumphantly. "You've got to call me Xander now."

Lorelai pouted. "Are you sure? There's so many names I could call you."

"Do I even want to know?" Rory asked to the world in general.

"No." "Probably not."

~*~

Xander helped load Rory's stuff onto Luke's truck (how was it that she had so much stuff, anyway? She had far, far more than he'd brought on his road trip).

Then, when the Gilmores got in the car, Xander moved to go indoors and survey the place where he would be spending the next week (unless he decided to bolt while he still had the chance).

"Hey, aren't you coming?" Lorelai said, poking her head out of the car window. "We could use your help unloading."

Xander hesitated for a moment, before shrugging. "Sure."

It wasn't until he slid into the back seat and sat precariously on a bag of clothing (really, did even Cordelia have this many clothes?) and Lorelai drove off that she added "Besides, I was kind of hoping I could show Rory your gibbering wreck routine."

It was at that point that Xander seriously began to wonder what was a better option - jumping out of a moving car or having Lorelai turn him into a stammering idiot.

It was a difficult choice.

~*~

After a few minutes, Lorelai suddenly said "Would now be a good time to mention that I don't actually know how to drive a stick?"

Rory clutched her seatbelt. "Mom! Couldn't you have mentioned that before?"

"Pull over. I'll drive." Xander said from the back seat.

"Oh, I like a man who takes control." Lorelai said, smiling at him suggestively at him in the mirror.

Xander fought against the urge to bang his head against the window. "Rory, does your mom flirt with everyone like this?"

"Oh, this isn't flirting." Rory said as Lorelai pulled over. "She's just making you uncomfortable."

"Yeah, I figured." Xander muttered, getting out and switching places with Lorelai.

"Oh my God." Lorelai said, wiggling as she attempted to find a place she could (more or less) comfortably sit. "How did you sit on this?"

Xander ignored her. "You're going to have to tell me the way, you know. I've never been to Yale before."

"I thought you were Mr Road Trip Guy." Rory commented.

Xander snorted. "The sole extent of my planning where to go was to drive through Kansas with a cut-out of a dog, so that when I left I could say "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." I just headed out."

"How was it? Driving through Kansas?" Lorelai asked.

"Not as fulfilling as you might think."

"So, why did you leave California?" Rory asked.

It was a perfectly innocent question, Xander knew. He also knew that there was no way that he was going to answer it. "If you don't mind, I'd rather keep my mystique." he said lightly.

"Oh boy." Rory murmured.

"You know we're going to keep on pestering you until you tell us, don't you?" Lorelai added.

Xander shrugged. "I'm here all week. You're welcome to try, but I won't crack."

"Don't be so sure." Rory warned. "We make the Spanish Inquisition look like amateurs."

"Well, at least they had the element of surprise. No one expects the Spanish Inquisition." Xander answered drily.

~*~

Xander quite happily hauled Rory's stuff to her room while Lorelai took as many pictures of her daughter doing things as she could. Doing that meant that he wasn't involved in the insanity. He was quite happy as a bystander.

Xander thought that it was around the time that Lorelai suggested a picture of Rory bouncing on her bed that Rory finally decided that she had had enough. Xander probably would've given up quite a bit sooner, because there was really only so many awkward pictures that he could live through.

On the other hand, it was actually kind of sweet. The only parent that Xander knew who would ever do a thing like that had been Joyce, and she - well, she wouldn't be doing anything like that now.

Which of course put a downer on the entire trip. Xander really had to leave his Sunnydale memories in Sunnydale.

Xander was on what felt like about his thirtieth trip (he vaguely wondered if the Gilmore household was secretly a Tardis, because if it wasn't, then it had to be overflowing with stuff) when he found that the Gilmores were no longer alone in the room. They'd be joined by a girl, presumably Rory's roommate - or one of several, judging by the amount of beds.

He briefly contemplated pulling Rory aside and warning her about the possibility of soul-sucking demonic roommates, but decided against it. Xander had seen barely any evidence of demons or the like since leaving Sunnydale. Besides, he'd just sound crazy - and not the Gilmore type of crazy, either.

Xander didn't bother to introduce himself to the new roommate, but instead settled to hauling in the four hundredth load of stuff. By the time he got back from the truck, however, he was accosted outside the room by Lorelai.

"You've got to help me." she said in a low, urgent voice.

Xander instantly dropped the bags he'd been carrying and slipped his hand into his back pocket. A stake wouldn't be much use against a demon, but it was better than nothing.

"Paris is in there." Lorelai continued.

"What, the city?" Xander said, confused.

Lorelai snorted. "I wish. It's a friend - uh, a person from Rory's high school. And she's crazy."

"Like you crazy or bad crazy?" Xander said, relaxing.

"Coffee Guzzler says she's bad crazy." Lorelai replied, then broke out into a coughing fit. "Oh, speaking like that all week would totally ruin my throat."

"On the other hand, you'd get to call me whatever name you like _and_ you'd have the added bonus of making all your friends think you'd gone mad." Xander pointed out.

"True."

"Anyway, what do you want me to do about Paris?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know, just distract her or something so that she doesn't turn on me. I'll help bring in Rory's stuff while you occupy her."

Xander ripped off a text book salute (Halloween had to be good for something, right?) and said "Sir yes sir! Operation Occupy Paris is underway!"

Lorelai smiled briefly before heading past him.

Okay. Xander thought that, given that he would only be in the neighbourhood for the next week, he might as well do something that would have made him the laughingstock of Sunnydale. Either that, or launched a cult with him as its leader. Knowing Sunnydale, it could go either way.

It might even be more embarrassing than being introduced by the Coffee Guzzler.

Xander staggered into Rory's dorm with his hand clamped across his eyes. He dimly noticed that everyone stopped speaking. Well, it had been a pretty grand entrance. "I see it! I see it now. It's, like, totally obvious!"

Then, slowly, he lowered his hand and pointed at Paris. Or at least he assumed it was Paris. She was the only new girl in the room, after all. "Your name. Your name is, like, Paris, isn't it?"

Paris narrowed her eyes. "Someone must've told you." she said suspiciously.

Xander nodded, spreading his arms wide and spreading what he hoped was a beatific smile on his face. It probably looked more like he was constipated, but it was better than nothing. "The spirit of, like, the Lord told me. For I am Jesus of the Valley!"

Xander lowered his head, and almost lost it right there when he noticed Rory with her fist crammed in her mouth and shaking with supressed laughter. It took him a moment to get his composure back, before he added "But you can call me, like, Valley Jesus!"

Paris opened her mouth, then shut it again. Eventually, she turned to Rory. "Rory, do you know this nutjob?"

Rory, who had quickly whipped her hand out of her mouth when Paris turned towards her unsuccessfully tried to turn her laughter into a coughing fit.

Thankfully, Paris didn't seem to notice. Instead, she recoiled and said "Are you sick?"

Before Rory had a chance to answer, Xander strode forward. "If you are sick, let me lay my hands upon your forehead. You'll be totally cured in, like, one second!"

Xander carefully positioned himself so that his back obscured Paris' view of Rory. Theatrically putting his hands on Rory's head, he murmured "Just go with me here. Your mom asked me to distract Paris, so that's what I'm doing."

Rory nodded, bright blue eyes sparkling. Xander took a step back and said "There! Do you feel healed now?"

Rory opened her mouth to answer, but instead decided to double up laughing. Naturally, Xander followed suit soon after. Paris, the guy she'd brought with her, and Rory's other roommate all looked at them in bemusement.

Lorelai appeared in the doorway, bag in hand. "What did I miss?"

~*~

A few minutes later, when they'd finally managed to unload all of Rory's stuff, Lorelai and Xander got in the car and drove off.

"So, what exactly did you do that cracked Rory up so much?" Lorelai asked curiously.

"Oh, Valley Jesus made an appearance." Xander said airily.

"Seriously? And I _missed_ that?" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Well, if you tell me to occupy Paris while you make your escape, you've got to accept that you won't see me occupying Paris."

"Yeah, but Valley Jesus? You could've waited, or something."

"On the downside, everyone in Yale will probably think that Rory's part of a cult now." Xander pointed out.

Lorelai shrugged. "Everyone should get involved in a cult at least once. Oh, hang on, I'm beeping." she said, pulling her pager out. "Turn around!"

Xander did so. "Why?"

"Rory says "Come back" with... 12 exclamations marks." Lorelai said, worried.

Xander opened his mouth to say that Rory couldn't possibly have gotten into trouble that quickly, but then he realised that pretty much any member of the Scoobies, or even anyone in Sunnydale, could've gotten into trouble in the space of about a second. Rory was no different.

Maybe Paris really was a soul-sucking demon.

~*~

As it turned out, Paris wasn't really a soul-sucking demon (or, at the very least, the jury was still out on that one). It was the much more mundane problem of Rory being homesick.

While Lorelai talked to Rory, Xander was left alone with Rory's roommates.

"So, what was up with the whole Valley Jesus thing?" Paris asked aggressively.

Xander shrugged. "Oh, it's just something a like to do when I meet new people. Their reactions are priceless."

"You're crazy." Paris accused.

"Now, now." said the man sitting next to her.

"Well, he is, Terrence." Paris shot back.

"Just because I'm not afraid of looking like a total dork doesn't make me crazy." Xander replied calmly.

He was saved from Paris leaping at him and throttling him to death (or, at the very least, yelling at him) by the re-emergence of the Gilmores. "So, we've decided to order takeout from everywhere nearby, to see which the best is."

"So we're staying for a bit?" Xander asked.

"Yup. Hope you don't mind." Lorelai answered.

"Not at all."

~*~

Xander should've known that ordering enough food to feed a small army (or at least six Gilmores, because they ate enough that Xander wondered if they might secretly be demons. If he ate that much, he'd weigh a ton) in a college dorm would result in a vast deluge of people appearing to sample the food.

It was around the time that a girl started hitting on him (well, he assumed that that was what she was doing. Whatever it was, it made him really uncomfortable) that he decided that he wanted to leave. This wasn't really his kind of thing.

He forced his way through to Lorelai, who, naturally, was the soul of the party. "Hey, Lorelai? I'm going to leave, if that's alright. Do you want me to wait for you?"

Lorelai shook her head. "I'm staying the night. Rory's homesick."

"So do want me to come back and pick you up in the morning?"

"Would you?"

Xander shrugged. "Sure. It's not like I've got anything better to do."

"That would be great." Lorelai said. "Hang on, I'll give you my car keys so that you can give Luke his truck back. Could you come by at about 9?"

Xander nodded, thanked her for the keys and headed off to say goodbye to Rory.

"Going off to lay your hands on someone, Valley Jesus?" Rory said archly.

Xander rolled his eyes. "Don't you start."

Rory grinned. "Anyway, good night."

"Good night."

~*~

Rory wasn't sure if it was because she was sleeping on an unfamiliar mattress or if it was just the general sensation of being a Yale girl, but she woke at the unholy hour of seven in the morning.

However, Rory decided to do something that no ordinary teenager would do - get up rather than go back to sleep. She wanted to see the campus while there was no one around.

Being careful not to wake Lorelai (who would never forgive her for waking her this early without bringing her coffee) Rory got dressed and tiptoed out.

Apparently, the campus wasn't empty. There was a car outside. Her mom's car. With Xander slumped in the driver's seat, clearly asleep.

Rory was pretty sure that he wasn't supposed to come for Lorelai for at least a couple of hours yet. Wondering if there was something wrong, she tried the door, found it was unlocked, opened it and gently prodded Xander.

And then promptly went flying backwards as Xander shoved her hard in the chest.

Xander opened his eyes, going from asleep to wide awake in about a second. "Oh my God! Rory, I'm _so_ sorry!" he exclaimed, slipping out of the car to help her up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Rory said, wincing. "Although I've banged my elbow a bit. Sorry for waking you."

"Here, let me see." Xander said, taking her arm and rolling up her sleeve. "Anyway, you shouldn't be the one apologizing. I'm the one who attacked you."

"True."

"Your arm is fine. It'll probably bruise, but that's all. Sorry." Xander wise wretchedly. "I, uh, kind of have difficulty with sleep."

"I figured that." Rory said drily.

"I either don't sleep, or I sleep too much, and woe betide anyone who wakes me. I'm really sorry, Rory."

"Don't worry about it." Rory said. Then, seeing that Xander was really upset about this (far more than she was, oddly) she added "No, seriously, don't worry. It's fine."

"It's _not_ fine. I'm _always_ doing things like this." Xander said dejectedly.

Rory thought about telling him to forget about it again, but she had a sudden hunch that this wasn't about her, not really. "Listen, Xander, all joking about the Spanish Inquisition aside, if you want to talk about why you left California..."

Xander was silent for a long while. "I don't want to unburden my problems on you. I'm only here for week, and then I'll be out of your hair."

Rory sighed. Oh well, she couldn't force him to tell her what the matter was.

On an impulse, she said "Xander, tonight I've got a weekly dinner with my grandparents. Do you want to come?"

"You're asking me to meet your grandparents?" Xander said, bemused.

"Yup."

Xander looked at her for a long while. Rory found herself hoping that she wasn't blushing.

Suddenly Xander grinned. "But we're not even dating." before striding off to Rory's dorm. "Come on, let's go wake the Coffee Guzzler!"

Rory followed close behind him, hoping that Xander wouldn't turn around and notice that she was _definitely_ blushing.


	3. Chapter 3

Rory had been right - Lorelai _really_ didn't appreciate being woken up at such an ungodly hour without coffee. And, seeing as how Rory had yet to install her coffee maker (or even buy some coffee to put in it) and the coffee kiosk didn't open for another few hours, Lorelai imperiously demanded that she go home. She also threatened to disown Rory, even when Rory explained that it had been Xander's idea to wake her.

Lorelai, not yet being awake enough to drive, demanded that Xander take her home. "But first, take me to Luke's. He'll be so surprised to see me awake this early."

"Yes ma'am." Xander said blandly, guessing that Lorelai would've slipped back to the Land of Nod well before they even got back to Stars Hollow.

However, Lorelai surprised him. Rather than sleepily subsiding, she instead said "What are you even doing here this early? Didn't you hear me when I said get here at 9?"

"I heard. I just happened to wake up at 4 and thought I might as well get here early. I walked around the neighbourhood for a while, but then Rory turned up and I thought I might as well wake you up." Xander explained. He decided to leave out the part where he'd fallen asleep in her car and then attacked Rory. Somehow, he didn't think that that part would go down too well.

Lorelai groaned. "Oh, great. I'm sharing my house with an insomniac for the next week. Wonderful."

"On the other hand, I know how to make great coffee." Xander pointed out.

"You'd better." Lorelai said, in as menacing a voice as she could manage. Of course, given the vast array of menacing voices Xander had heard over the years, Lorelai ranked barely above a small kitten, but the intention was there.

Of course, a small kitten couldn't turn him into a babbling cretin with just a few words...

"Anyway, here's Luke's. Should I park somewhere in particular, or will Taylor leave you alone?"

"Don't you know not to ask a woman questions before she's had her first cup of coffee?" Lorelai growled.

"Sorry." Xander said. After much deliberation, he decided to park outside the diner, non-existent soldiers be damned.

There were a fair few people in the diner, to Lorelai's surprise.

"Lorelai? What are you doing here so early?" Luke asked in astonishment.

Lorelai threw her head backwards in despair. "Why? Why all the questions? Why?" she wailed at the ceiling.

"Luke, I think you'd better get her coffee before she goes on a killing spree." Xander said, edging away from the histrionic woman.

"Coming right up." Luke said, hurrying.

"Thank you." Lorelai said dramatically, sitting down with a thump.

"So, what happened, kid?" Luke said, passing Lorelai her cup.

"You know she stayed the night with Rory at Yale?" Luke nodded - Xander had told him as much when he'd returned his truck. "Well, this morning I went back to pick her up, and I woke her up rather earlier than she expected."

"You mean you woke her up without coffee and didn't get your eyes scratched out?" Luke said incredulously.

"I'm not sure if that's still on the table or not." Xander said, sitting down.

"It's still a possibility. More coffee." Lorelai said, thunking down her already empty cup.

"Can I ask you questions now?" Luke asked.

Lorelai glared at him balefully, holding out her coffee cup.

Luke refilled it, and asked Xander "So, is Rory settled in alright?"

Xander shrugged. "She certainly seems to be. Although she's got a demon for a roommate."

"Paris?" Luke guessed.

"'fraid so."

"Poor girl."

Before anything else could be said, Lorelai stood up. After having finished three cups of coffee in about a minute, she felt human enough not to want to throttle Xander.

On the other hand, she still wanted to get revenge for being woken up so early. And, of course, she hadn't reduced him to a blushing, stammering moron today...

She sashayed over to Xander. Xander, suddenly having a flash of what the future would hold, cringed, trying to stay as far away from Lorelai as possible.

However, as used to vampires, demons, witches and all manner of creepy crawlies as he was, when faced with a woman some 15 years his senior determined to make him uncomfortable in any way possible, Xander's nerve broke. Rather than being humiliated in front of a room full of people, he scurried out of the diner.

"Congratulations, Lorelai. You've just made a grown man run away." Luke said drily.

Lorelai gave a slight bow. "Thank yew, thank yew, Ai will be giving repeat performances all week."

"You know, if you keep teasing him like that, he might decide to wake you up this early every day." Luke pointed out.

Lorelai wilted slightly. "Good point."

At that moment, Kirk walked in dressed in postman garb. "Lorelai, I've got mail for you." he said gravely, handing her said mail.

"Wow, Kirk, you're getting really good at this postman gig. You actually gave my mail to me. Rather than, you know, just about anyone else in the entire town." Lorelai commented, flicking through her mail.

"Not really." Kirk admitted. "I just saw you sitting here."

"Ah, that makes more sense. Oh, look, I've got urgent mail! Who sends urgent mail these days? We do have telephones, you know." Lorelai said.

"You going to open it?" Luke asked.

"I thought I'd savour the sensation for a while."

"But it's urgent."

"So?"

"I don't even know why I bother." Luke muttered, walking off to refill someone's cup.

"Oh, all right, I'll open it." Lorelai said to his retreating back.

"Good." Luke said, over his shoulder.

"Oh my God."

"What is it?" Luke said, worried.

"I'm going to kill him."

"Violence isn't the answer."

"It is to this question. I'm going to kill Taylor!"

"Oh. Okay then."

"Okay then? I thought you were meant to talk me out of killing him?"

"Yeah, but its Taylor. He probably gets about a thousand death threats a day."

"This is no death threat. I'm really going to kill him." Lorelai vowed.

"What did he do?"

"He's telling me that I can't start work on the Dragonfly."

"Why?"

"Because he's Taylor. I'm going to kill him!"

"Relax. You couldn't kill anyone. Well, not on purpose."

"I - I'll have Xander do it!" Lorelai declared. "He'll get his car back, I can work on my inn, and the town will be free of his petty dictatorship. It's a win-win!"

"Somehow, I don't think Xander will kill someone for you." Luke said. Then he blinked. "And I cannot believe I'm getting into this conversation."

~*~

Lorelai caught up to Xander pretty quickly. Because Xander hadn't really thought his escape through, he hadn't realised that he needed somewhere to actually escape to. As a result, he just ambled casually through town.

"I need you to kill someone." Lorelai said, the moment that she caught up with him.

Xander was unperturbed by her sudden appearance (although he was fairly perturbed by the fact that it was Lorelai making the sudden appearance) because years of hunting vampires had taught him to constantly be aware of footsteps around him.

"Who?" Xander asked calmly.

Lorelai, rather surprised that his reaction hadn't been "Why?" or "What?" said "Taylor."

"Given that you're probably not suddenly overcome by remorse by my predicament, I've got to ask - why? Unless, of course, you just want me gone, in which case you only have to say the word."

"He says that I can't work on the Dragonfly." Lorelai explained.

"Why not?"

"Oh, some garbage about it being an historic building and us needing permission from the Historical Society to do anything to do it."

"Is it on the NRHP?" Xander asked.

"The what?"

"The National Register of Historic Places." Xander explained.

"I don't think so." Lorelai said uncertainly.

"Then he hasn't got a leg to stand on. You can start work whenever you like. As long as you've got planning permission."

"How do you know all that?"

"Didn't I tell you I worked construction?"

"You did. But I thought you were lying." Lorelai admitted. "You just seem so young."

Xander rubbed his face tiredly. "I'm old enough to feel old." he said so quietly that Lorelai didn't quite catch it. "I didn't go to college." he said in a louder voice.

"I guess that explains it, then." Lorelai said doubtfully. "Anyway, I need to go and tell Sookie the news."

"Who's Sookie?"

~*~

Xander didn't listen a great deal to Lorelai and Sookie talking. The reason for this was that there was a pie.

Not just a pie. _The_ pie. The pie of pies. The pie that all other pies wanted to be when they grew up.

Suffice to say, Xander loved the pie. Not that he normally ate pies for breakfast, but he hadn't eaten for hours, and besides, it was delicious.

And Sookie didn't even seem to mind that he was shovelling it into his mouth so fast that there should've been a sonic boom, which was a bonus.

Okay, maybe having had his car impounded wasn't actually that bad. If there was pie like this every day, maybe a week with Lorelai was worth it.

~*~

Xander was poking around the Dragonfly (it actually wasn't in such bad shape - sure, it would take a few months to get it shipshape, but he'd seen worse) when Lorelai called him over.

"What is it?" Xander asked.

"Rory called."

"Is she okay?"

"Yes."

"Cool." Xander said, heading back inside.

"Wait!" Lorelai shouted.

"What is it?"

"Rory wanted to know if you were coming to Friday night dinner."

Xander rubbed his chest absently. "I plan on having dinner every night. Why, what's so special about Friday?"

"Well, normally we have it with her grandparents."

Xander nodded. "She did mention something about that, yes. I didn't think she was serious."

"Oh, trust me, Friday night dinners are always serious. But why did she invite you?"

"I think it was an apology for me attacking her."

Lorelai paused, trying to figure out how that made sense. Eventually she gave up. "Okay, how exactly does that make sense? And when did you attack her, anyway?"

"Well, when I got back after walking around Yale this morning, I kind of fell asleep in your car. Then Rory woke me, and I, uh, kind of attacked her." Xander said guiltily. "It was my fault. I, uh, kind of have problems sleeping."

"Uh uh." Lorelai said, noncommittally. "So she decided to invite you to Friday night dinner."

"Yes."

"Okay, as fun as it might be to watch my parents have fits after meeting Valley Jesus, I wouldn't want to inflict them on you."

"So Rory was getting back at me for attacking her?" Xander said, bemused. Revenge by grandparents had to be the weirdest revenge he'd ever heard of.

"Oh, no. Rory's the sweetest kid you'll ever meet. If she asked you to dinner, it wasn't because of any ulterior motive."

Xander paused for a moment, before grinning widely. "Tell her I'm coming."

"Okay. But my parents will probably be caustically sarcastic. You may not make it out alive." Lorelai warned.

Xander shrugged. "Valley Jesus ain't afraid of nobody."

Lorelai smiled. "I will give you hundred dollars if you pull a Valley Jesus skit on them."

"Done."

~*~

Fortunately, Lorelai and Xander arrived at the same time as Rory, so they all went in together.

"Big house." Xander commented.

"They have maids." Lorelai replied.

They knocked on the door, and Xander was mildly amazed to discover that, yes, they really did have maids.

They were ushered into the dining room.

"Oh, you didn't tell us you'd be bringing company, Lorelai! We don't have enough food for four. Oh well, I'll have to tell the cook to whip up a little something." the woman who Xander could only assume was Emily Gilmore said in a peeved tone.

"Mom, this is-"

"I'm Jesus of the Valley." Xander interrupted smoothly. "I, like, run the cult that your family has so recently joined."

Silence.

"And apparently humour doesn't run in families. Who knew?" Xander said to himself. "Sorry, that was a joke. I'm a friend of Rory's."

Silence.

"Um, Lorelai, I think I broke your mom." Xander said, waving his hand up and down in front of Emily's vacant stare.

Emily broke out into what had to be the fakest laughter he'd ever heard. "Ha! A joke. How witty! Lorelai, you should've said you were bringing a comedian!"

"Sorry, Mom." Lorelai said with as much contrition as she could muster. Which wasn't very much, as she had a grin on her face that would've made a pumpkin envious.

"Okay, let's start again. I'm Xander. Please forget everything else I've said."

"Gladly." Emily said coldly.

~*~

"So, tell me, how do you know Rory, Xander?" Emily said.

"Where's Dad?" Lorelai interjected, hoping to cut off the interrogation.

"On business." Emily said curtly. "Well?"

"Well, I'm from California. I'm just here on a road trip, but, due a series of unfortunate events that would make Lemony Snicket blanch, I'm stuck in Stars Hollow for a week."

"A road trip! How romantic! Lorelai, did I ever tell you about the son of a friend of mine who went on a road trip? It was just meant to be a summer thing, but he ended up being some beach bum somewhere. Still, I'm sure that won't happen to you, Xander."

"It's a lovely house you've got here, Mrs Gilmore." Xander said, unabashed.

"Why, thank you." Emily said, thrown by the non-sequitur.

"I had a friend who had a house like this. She had maids and everything. Sadly, it turned out that her parents hadn't been paid their taxes, like, ever, so the IRS came and took everything. She went off to be an actress in LA. Still, I'm sure that wouldn't happen to you."

"No, we pay-"

"I don't think you'd fit in as an actress."

Emily frowned. Neither Rory nor Lorelai dared speak.

"I'm told that drugs are a real problem in California, especially amongst teenagers. Actresses, too. Still, I'm sure that you've never had a problem with that, have you, Xander?" Emily said sweetly.

Xander stood up. "Suddenly I'm not hungry anymore."

He walked outside without looking back.

"What did I say?" Emily said innocently.

"Excuse me." Rory said, getting up and following Xander out.

~*~

Rory found Xander sitting on the hood of her car, staring up at the sky. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.

"I'm just fine." Xander said, looking at her. "Sorry for ruining dinner."

"It's okay. I shouldn't have invited you in the first place." Rory said, pulling herself up to sit next to him.

"I shouldn't have come. I ruin everything I touch." Xander said sadly, looking up again. "She was right, though. Emily. About the addiction and all that. I had a friend, my best friend, I've known her forever. I didn't even notice when she started. How could I not notice? And it all went wrong so quickly."

Rory didn't reply immediately. Eventually, she asked "Is that why you left?"

"Oh, Rory. There were so, so many reasons why I left. That was just the tip of the iceberg."

"You can tell me, if you want."

Xander turned and looked at her gravely. Rory suddenly realised just how close she was sitting to him. "No. I can't. Too many memories. Trust me, you really don't need to know. Stay young while you can."

"You're only a couple of years older than me." Rory pointed out.

"I'm old enough to feel old. Trust me, Rory, you don't want to have my memories."

"Well, we'll just have to make some good memories." Rory said.

Xander grinned suddenly, although it didn't reach his eyes. "This is a good memory."


	4. Chapter 4

Once again, Xander woke up at some stupidly early hour. Back in Sunnydale, that wouldn't have been a problem, because he would've gone patrolling with Buffy and the gang. But he had yet to find a single vampire or demon in Stars Hollow (with the possible exception of Taylor). There hadn't even been any around Yale, which was exactly the sort of place he would've expected to see them.

Still, wandering around a small town early in the morning had its charms, even for an insomniac. Unlike Sunnydale, there weren't any demon-infested warehouses or abandoned derelict buildings, so he could stroll around and admire the buildings.

It was a nice town, actually.

After a while, though, Xander got bored and decided to camp outside Luke's until it opened. Although he did contemplate doing a spot of vandalism on Taylor's lawn. Truth be told, the only reason he didn't was because he wasn't 100% sure which house was his.

Snyder would be so proud.

Luke's opened earlier than any shop in Sunnydale ever would - if he'd done it there, he'd have been turned and running a demonic coffee shop within a week. Still, Xander wasn't complaining. He might be up and walking around, but that didn't mean that he didn't want coffee.

"Did Lorelai kick you out or something?" Luke asked. He wasn't particularly surprised that Xander was his first customer - if Xander maintained enough presence of mind to deal with an early morning Lorelai, it was clear that he was an early riser.

Xander shook his head. "Nah. Although I did meet her mother yesterday."

"Ouch." Luke said in sympathy. "How did it go?"

"I stormed out. I'm pretty sure Lorelai yelled at her mother, too, because she was uncharacteristically silent on the ride back." Xander said, hands wrapped around the mug. "Still. It could've been worse."

"How?"

_I could've staked her._ Xander thought with a smile, remembering the stake he always had tucked into his back pocket. Out loud, he said "I don't know. I could've thrown something at her, or something."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Lorelai's fantasised about doing that for years." Luke said with a quick grin.

"I'm not surprised." Xander replied. "If I had a mother like that..."

"...you'd get pregnant at sixteen and leave home?" Luke finished.

"Well, I don't think that the whole pregnant thing would really work out for me." Xander said drily. "Still, sixteen? At sixteen I was" _Getting possessed by a hyena, I think_"a mess. No way would I ever have been able to raise a kid."

"Yeah, well, you're not Lorelai."

"I don't think anyone's Lorelai."

"You're right there." Luke nodded. "There isn't anyone like her."

Xander narrowed his eyes. Normally, he was almost supernaturally unobservant about such matters, but that had seemed pretty obvious, even to him. "So, you and her..."

"Me and who?" Luke said absently, wiping down the counter.

"You and Lorelai. Are you Rory's dad?"

Luke looked like he'd been struck by lightning. Xander wouldn't be surprised to find that, if he were to remove Luke's ever present baseball cap, his hair was sticking straight up. "Me? What? No!"

"So you weren't childhood sweethearts or something?" Xander said, smiling into his coffee cup.

"I - we - she - no!" Luke spluttered.

"Okay, I totally see why Lorelai finds that so fun now." Xander murmured. "So you and Lorelai never had a thing?"

"No. We never had a thing. Hell, I'm married." Luke said grumpily.

"There's no ring." Xander pointed out.

"It was a spur of the moment thing. Didn't stick." Luke explained. "And why am I telling you this?"

Xander shrugged. "'cause I have ears and you have a mouth?" he suggested.

"Very funny." Luke said acidly.

"I was nearly married once. Didn't work out." Xander said suddenly. He hadn't planned on saying it - it hadn't even been going through his head - but it just slipped out anyway.

"Oh?" Luke said neutrally. He was no barman, but he had had his fair share of people spilling out their guts to him. He guessed, in a pinch, that anyone behind a counter would do, barman or no.

"Yeah. Planned it all and everything." Xander said. Now that he'd begun, he didn't really think he could stop. "Got as far as the altar. Then I ran."

"How old are you, kid? Nineteen? Twenty?"

Xander shrugged. "More or less."

"Must be something in the water." Luke muttered. "Rory's ex-boyfriend's getting married tomorrow, and he's got to be even younger than you are."

Xander sat up straight. "Rory's getting married?"

"Ex-boyfriend." Luke repeated.

"Idiot. He's too young. It won't work out." Xander muttered.

Luke shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. But there's no need for cynicism."

Xander snorted. "Optimism never got anyone anywhere."

Luke looked out of the window. "I don't know about that." he said, under his breath. Then, in a louder voice "Maybe people will surprise you."

Xander opened his mouth to make some sort of snarky rebuttal, then shut it again.

_"Well, we'll just have to make some good memories then."_

"This is a good memory."

Xander smiled faintly. "Maybe you're right."

~*~

Xander left when other customers began trickling in, although he made sure to bring back some coffee for Lorelai. He was pretty sure that the mere presence of coffee would attract the Coffee Guzzler like moths to a flame.

In this, Xander was completely right. It seemed almost as though the second he was through the door Lorelai was there demanding her coffee, although it wasn't until she finished enough to make any ordinary person stay awake for a week that she actually became capable of speech.

"Morning."

"Morning." Xander replied agreeably.

"You're up early."

"So are you."

"Only because of coffee." Lorelai replied, brandishing her cup.

Xander shrugged. Lorelai already knew he had sleeping problems. He wasn't about to go into greater detail about why he had them.

"Listen, if you're bothered about last night..."

"What?" Xander said, momentarily baffled. "Oh, the dinner? Nah, that doesn't even rank on the top 50 things that bother me."

"You sure got out of there quickly." Lorelai said blandly.

Xander shrugged again.

"She was just being snippy, you know. She didn't actually mean anything by it."

"Yeah, I know. I had a friend like her, she just said things to get a rise of people. She didn't actually mean anything by it." Xander paused. "Well, probably not. It was always hard to tell with Cordy."

"Is she the rich girl you mentioned?"

Xander nodded.

"Listen Xander, if you want to talk-"

"I don't. I really, really don't." Xander said shortly. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, I'm sure you're just trying to be nice and all that, but really, it's none of your business."

"Fair enough."

~*~

Later, Lorelai contacted the contractors that she'd be using to sort out the Dragonfly. She brought Xander along, as her resident construction expert.

She was glad she did, because he negotiated her a much better deal than she would've gotten by herself. Turned out that, as young as he was, Xander really did know what he was talking about.

Unfortunately, this being Stars Hollow, no day was complete without at least a little bit of drama. Today came in the form of a highly agitated appearance by Rory, who'd visited Lane only to be accosted by Dean.

Who had promptly decided to invite her to his wedding.

Seriously, who _did_ that?

"So, Rory, do you want to go or not?" Lorelai said simply.

"I don't know, Mom! I mean, I don't want to be rude or anything, but it would be weird to see him getting married to someone else."

"I know, sweetie, but it's your choice." Lorelai said gently. "Only you can decide."

"What would you do?"

Lorelai was saved from having to try and figure out an answer by the appearance of Xander. "Hey, Lorelai? Do you know where Taylor is, because I've got some tools in my car I'd like to get - oh, hi Rory." Xander said.

"Hey." Rory replied thickly.

Xander sat down next to her. "What's wrong?"

"Dean asked me to his wedding."

Xander looked blank for a moment, before remembering what Luke had said earlier. "Oh, your ex?" Seeing Rory look at him in surprise, he quickly added "Luke told me about it earlier."

"Yeah. Him." Rory said.

"Why don't you want to go?" Xander asked.

Rory looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"I mean, do you not want to go because it would be weird seeing him marry someone else, or because you still have feelings for him, or he has feelings for you? Or do you have feelings for the girl he's marrying?"

Rory laughed shortly at the last one. Xander smiled in response. "No, it's just weird."

"Okay, I'm going to give some advice. Feel free not to take it, because my track record on these things is hardly stellar, but I'm going to say it anyway. You ready?" Rory nodded. "I think you should go. Hold on, hear me out before you call me crazy! You're going to see this Dean every time you come to Stars Hollow. You can't avoid him forever, so you might as well get it out of the way."

Rory blinked. "That... actually makes sense."

"It does, doesn't it?" Xander said, inordinately pleased with himself.

"Mom? What do you think?"

Lorelai threw up her hands. "Oh no, I'm staying out of this one. He's your ex-boyfriend."

"Thanks a lot." Rory said sourly.

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to be independent."

"I take it back. Mom, make all my decisions!"

"Honey, I haven't made your decisions since you were three."

"Okay, can we get back to me finding Taylor?" Xander interjected.

"Oh, sure. He'll either be at his candy shop or his market." Rory answered.

"I'm sure that that's all very helpful, but I don't actually know where those two places are." Xander pointed out.

"I'll show you."

~*~

As it turned out, Taylor wasn't at his candy store, so he was probably at Doose's.

It wasn't until Rory walked through the door with Xander that she realised that Dean would be too.

Rory froze in the doorway when she saw him stacking shelves. Xander looked at her in amusement. "You alright there?"

"Dean." Rory said in reply.

Xander looked around. "Tall guy?"

Rory nodded.

"Hey, Dean!" Xander called. Rory contemplated hitting Xander, but by that time Dean and turned around and it was too late. "I'm Xander. Occasionally known as Valley Jesus. But that's beside the point. Point is that Rory would like to come to your wedding."

Dean looked at Xander in astonishment for a couple of seconds, before turning to Rory. "Rory?"

"Yes?" Rory replied in a faraway tone.

"Who is this guy?"

Xander scratched his chest. "I could've sworn I said who I was."

"He's just a friend." Rory answered, ignoring him. "But I do want to go to the wedding."

"Good." Dean said with satisfaction. "That's good."

"Have I suddenly turned invisible or something?" Xander said.

"Anyway, I should get back to work." Dean said, not looking away from Rory.

"Oh. Right. You do that." Rory said.

When Dean turned back to his shelf-stacking, Xander grabbed Rory's arm and dragged her out of the store.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Rory shrilled, hitting him.

Xander let go hurriedly. "I take back everything I said earlier. Do not go to his wedding."

"What? Why not?"

"Rory, I'm normally blind about these things, but even a blind man could see that that guy still has feelings for you."

"What? Don't be ridiculous."

"Rory, he didn't take his eyes off of you the entire time you were there. No way has he moved on."

"Xander-"

"You're the one who ended things, aren't you?"

Rory couldn't think of a way not to answer such a direct question. "Yes."

"Look, just don't go to the wedding, okay?" Xander said patiently. "Trust me. It will end badly."

"Why?"

Xander frowned. "Why what?"

"Why should I trust you?"

Xander opened and shut his mouth several times. Eventually, in a flat voice he said "Fine. Don't." and walked off.

"Xander! Wait!" Rory yelled. When Xander didn't stop, she hurried after him. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"You're right, though. I've just come out of nowhere and I'm giving you advice on your love life. Seriously, who does that? Listen, Rory. Do what you want." Xander said. "You don't have to trust me if you don't want to."

It was Rory's turn to open and shut her mouth, not sure what to say. After a while, she managed "Do you want to go to the wedding with me?"

Xander stopped so abruptly that Rory overshot him and had to come back.

"You're asking me to your ex's wedding?" Xander asked.

"That is what I said."

"Why?"

Rory shrugged, attempting to put everything that she couldn't articulate into the gesture. "Because... because something obviously happened to you, and... I don't know, because you need a better set of memories?"

Xander took a step nearer. "I can think of better memories we can make."

It took Rory a second to realise what he was talking about, but when she did she blushed so hard that she was vaguely surprised that her hair didn't catch fire.

Xander smirked. "Okay, I can _so_ see why your mom loves doing that to me so much."

Rory hit him. "Oh, you, you... Argh!"

Xander fended off her blows, laughing. "Come on, Rory! There's no need to be like that!"

"Yeah, there is!" Rory said, flailing wildly.

Xander caught her arms and stepped in close. Rory froze. "Rory?" Xander said seriously.

Rory nodded, not quite sure whether she was capable of speech or not.

"I'll happily go to your ex-boyfriend's wedding with you, if you want."

Rory found that, yes, she could speak. "I do."

"Rory? You do realise that this is the second time you've asked me out, don't you?"

Rory found that, no, she couldn't speak.

Xander stepped away, smiling. "So, do you want to watch while I threaten Taylor into letting me get some stuff out of my car?"

Rory struggled to find her voice. After a while, she managed to say "Sure."


	5. Chapter 5

Xander walked Rory back home after a very satisfying encounter with Taylor, his tools slung under his arm.

He was mildly surprised when they were greeted at the door by Lorelai, who said "So, I hear you two were fighting outside of Doose's."

Xander frowned, taken aback by the sudden encounter, and blurted out the first thing that went through his head. "Did you put a spell on me, or something?"

Okay, come _on!_ Lorelai just couldn't pass up an opportunity like that, no matter how much she might want to ask why the pair had been fighting. "I don't know. You tell me." Lorelai said throatily, twirling hair around her finger.

To his credit, Xander barely flushed. He guessed he must be getting used to it - which probably meant that Lorelai would come up with some fresh torment for him. "I - I meant a spell so you could hear us."

"I know what you meant." Lorelai said, all business-like again. "But no, I didn't. Miss Patty told me."

Rory sighed. Seeing Xander's blank look, she started to say "She's the town gossip." but decided to change the last word to "witch."

Hence: "She's the town g-witch."

Xander blinked. "Your town has gwitches? What are gwitches? Are they like government witches?"

"Yes, Xander, we have a whole regiment of witches working for the government stationed here." Lorelai said sarcastically.

"So what's a gwitch, then?" Xander said, baffled.

"She's just the town gossip. Absolutely no magic involved." Lorelai said with a look at Rory. Rory shrugged as if to say "I couldn't help myself."

"Oh, good." Xander said, mopping his forehead. He had begun getting a little panicked there - after all, a strong coven of witches would explain why there were absolutely no demons or vampires around. Witches were more than capable of keeping them away, if they wanted to. At least when there wasn't a Hellmouth around.

Lorelai looked at him, confused. Why would the mention of magic make him so flustered? However, after a moment, she got back to the issue at hand. "So, anyway, what were you two fighting about?"

"Well, we saw Dean, I told him that Rory wanted to go to his wedding, he stared at her, she stared at him, he went back to work, I took Rory outside and said that she shouldn't be there because he obviously still has feelings for her, she asked me to the wedding, I flirted, she got mad and attacked me, and you're her mother and I really shouldn't have mentioned that last bit, so I'm just going to go. Over there. And, uh, stand." Xander said all on one breath before pointing in an arbitrary direction.

"Hold on." Lorelai said, holding out a hand as she mentally replayed what Xander had just said. While she was, herself, capable of spouting a monologue at great speed, she had rarely had to be on the receiving end of one. "I thought you wanted Rory to go to the wedding. Something about her getting used to the weirdness."

"Yeah, I might've been wrong about that." Xander said. "And, before you say something like "It takes a real man to admit to his mistakes." in a sexy voice, just don't, okay?"

Lorelai, who hadn't actually been planning on saying that (although she probably should've, because it was exactly the kind of thing she would've said) airily declared "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Anyway, anyone could see that Dean still feels something for Rory, and having the girl that you have feelings for at your wedding to another girl isn't exactly the best of ideas." Xander explained.

"Uh huh." Lorelai said. "That makes sense."

"And Rory doesn't believe me."

"It's not that." Rory hurried to say. "I just don't believe that he still has feelings for me."

Lorelai had no response to that - Rory and Dean had kind of avoided each other as much as possible since they'd broken up, and even more so since Jess was out of the picture. And because she hadn't seen the two together, she couldn't really judge how Dean felt about Rory. On the other hand, she could respond to something else that Xander had said... "So, tell me about the flirting." she said ominously.

Rory waited for Xander to answer, but after a while it became clear that he wasn't going to. In fact, the ability to speak seemed to have eluded him entirely. So she decided that she had to intervene on his behalf. "He was just doing what you've been doing to him for the last couple of days, Mom. And I realised how annoying it was and attacked him for it."

"Yes." Xander gulped gratefully. "That."

"But you did ask him to the wedding?" Lorelai said blandly.

Rory nodded, blushing a little. "I did."

"Okay then." Lorelai said in the same bland voice. She was trying not to give away what she was thinking.

What she was thinking was that things with Jess hadn't exactly ended well, and Xander was a charming, mysterious man who would, of necessity, be around her daughter for the next week.

And, after that week, he would be gone, and he wouldn't be back. While Rory might very well rebound onto Xander from Jess, it would be pretty much as disastrous as her relationship with Jess had been.

So, Lorelai should really try and stop that from happening. Not that it was really Xander's fault, she doubted he was doing anything on purpose - she guessed he was like this all the time - but Rory was kind of vulnerable right now, and Lorelai really didn't want to see her daughter hurt again.

Anyway, there wasn't really anything that she could do about that right now. So it was time to change the subject.

"So, who's up for helping me plan a Lord of the Rings party?" Lorelai said cheerfully.

Xander and Rory were both clearly thrown by the sudden change of topic. Both of them said "What?" in unison.

"Well, seeing as how I'm not actually earning any money at the moment, Sookie suggested that we open a catering service. And I can't really say no, because she kind of already planned a gig on Monday. Xander, you already know all of this, you were there when we discussed it."

"I was?" Xander said, frowning. "Oh. That was the pie place, wasn't it? Yeah, I wasn't really listening to what you two were saying so much as the pie screaming at me to eat it."

"A Lord of the Rings party? What kind of person would have a Lord of the Rings party?" Rory said sceptically.

"I would. And a Star Wars party. And a Star Trek party. That one was probably my favourite. Vulcan ears..." Xander said nostalgically.

"Well, honey, a bunch of eleven year olds would. And Xander, apparently."

"What? I'm a geek." Xander said, unashamed.

"But, if the party's on Monday, why are you planning it today? Back when you used to hold weddings at the Independence Inn, you used to leave everything to the last day, then solve everything and come home at about three in the morning and crash on the couch." Rory said.

"Yeah, but I had staff then. Minions to do my bidding. Now I just have you two." Lorelai explained.

"Are we going out of town tomorrow or something?" Xander said, confused.

"We're going to Dean's wedding." Rory reminded him.

"Ah, yes. Somehow, I'd managed to completely blot that from my memory."

"Anyway, the wedding doesn't last all day. We'll still have time to help you." Rory pointed out.

"But you'll spend the whole morning putting on about five million dresses, trying to find one that will make you look pretty but not prettier than the bride, because that would make you feel bad. It's also impossible, by the way, because you're just much prettier than Lindsay is. And then, after the wedding, if Xander's right there will be loads of drama. If there isn't, then you'll still be bummed out that your ex is getting married." Lorelai answered.

"Yeah, I try never to upstage the bride. Of course, the fact that I look terrible in dresses might help with that." Xander said, nodding sagely.

Rory giggled. "Do I even want to know?"

"No, not really."

"The point is, if you two are going to help, then you're going to have to help today."

"Alright, I'll help."

"Sméagol will give his aid, mistress." Xander said in a high pitched gurgle.

"That's just awful, Xander. You sound like a strangled chicken."

"Sorry, mistress."

"Seriously, you should stop."

~*~

Xander and the two Gilmores successfully planned the children's party, hindered only by Xander's repeated attempts to impersonate Gollum, all of which were comically terrible, and Lorelai getting really frustrated trying to contact the people who made Lord of the Rings tablecloths and deciding to pretend that she was a cave troll.

After that, Xander headed back to the Dragonfly so that he could finally get started on it, Rory went back to Yale to deal with Paris, and Lorelai went over to Sookie's to arrange the actual catering side of the catering business.

Their day proceeded in an orderly fashion, without any sudden ambushes by orcs, Ringwraiths or Taylor. They went to sleep.

Rory turned up early (for her) to get her dress sorted out (because Lorelai had been completely correct about that part) and Xander dredged up some clothes that were less scruffy than what he normally wore. He refused point blank to wear a tuxedo. Besides, the others at the wedding wouldn't be staring at him because he was dressed scruffily, but because he would be there with Rory.

This left Xander at a loss. He knew that Rory wouldn't be ready for hours. He could work on the Dragonfly, but what with all the bunting and other celebratory knick-knacks hung all over the town, he didn't really fancy fighting his way through all of that.

It wasn't until he was on his way to Luke's to imbibe vast quantities of coffee and avoid as much of the wedding talk as possible that he realised what he could do.

Well, not precisely what he could do. More like what he should do.

Xander changed direction and walked over to the pavilion that seemed to be the centre of the activities. He accosted a likely looking person and asked "Hey, do you know where I might find Dean?"

"He's over there." Bustling Guy replied, pointing. "But he's a bit busy right now."

"Okay, thanks." Xander said, heading over to Dean, who was standing in a crowd of people over which he towered by at least 6 inches. Seriously, Xander had known demons shorter than this guy.

It wasn't hard for him to burrow his way through the sea of people, wondering as he did so why he had never had a sea of people around him at his wedding.

"Hey, Dean!" Xander yelled over the roar of voices.

Dean ignored him. Xander couldn't really blame him - he had a lot on his mind right then. Still, he was betting that he knew how to get through. "It's about Rory."

Sure enough, that did the trick. Dean whirled to face him so quickly that Xander wondered if he'd started a tornado somewhere. If butterflies could do it, why not gigantic humans?

"What? Is she okay? Did something happen?" Dean asked in a panicky voice.

"Listen, can we talk somewhere a little more private?" Xander shouted.

Dean shouted "Okay, everyone, just leave me alone for a bit. Go on, scram!" he said, shooing them with his tree trunks - uh, arms. Slowly, the crowd dispersed.

"Hey, do I know you?" Dean said, puzzled.

"I was with Rory yesterday. We met at Doose's."

"Oh, yes."

"I don't really blame you for forgetting me. You didn't take your eyes of Rory the entire time we were there."

Dean blushed, but didn't actually deny it. "So, what's up with Rory?"

"Listen, Dean, do you actually love this girl you're marrying?" Xander asked.

"Lindsay? Yes, of course I do!" Dean replied, not at all sure where this was going.

"So you're not just marrying her because she's there? Because, and I cannot stress this enough, do not marry her if you're absolutely sure that you want to spend the rest of your life with her. And this is Lindsay I'm talking about, not Rory."

Dean turned purple. "Of course I want to! That's why I'm marrying her!"

"Hold on, hear me out before you crush me underfoot, Big Guy." Xander said.

Dean subsided a little. "Okay. I'm listening."

"A few months ago, I proposed to my girlfriend. At the time, I thought that we were both going to die - it's a long story - but we didn't, and so I ended up engaged. But I really, really wasn't ready. Don't get me wrong, I loved her, but I wasn't ready for marriage. Maybe I was too young or something. But it wasn't until I was actually at the altar that I realised that I couldn't go through with it." Dean winced. Xander continued. "Yeah, you can imagine how that went down."

"What are you saying?" Dean said. "That I should ditch Lindsay because I'm too young to get married?"

Xander wobbled a hand in front of him. "No, not exactly. For all I know, you might be soul mates, and everything will work out just fine. But, if you love Rory, if you still have feelings for her at all, don't marry Lindsay. Trust me, it will go bad, very, very quickly."

"I -" Dean began, but he couldn't organize his thoughts enough to finish.

"It's just something to think about." Xander said gently. "Just don't get married unless you're absolutely sure that you want to get married."

He walked away, and left Dean to watch him go. Not that Dean really noticed. His mind was on other things.

Xander was thinking that he had just played the same role as the demon who had been the catalyst that had wrecked his own wedding.

He hoped that his intervention didn't lead to things ending up the same way as they had then.

~*~

Later, at the ceremony, everyone noted that not once did Dean take his eyes off of Lindsay. Not even to look at his ex-girlfriend. He was so clearly in love with his wife that they termed the pair Romeo and Juliet: The Happy Version.

Xander smiled. He hoped that this would last. And he kept smiling, right up until the point where someone asked him how he felt about the fact that Rory had brought him there to make Dean jealous.


	6. Chapter 6

The wedding happened as all weddings should. There were no demons, histrionics, goblins or sudden appearances by Taylor. There were, however, several drunken relatives, but no wedding was complete without a few of those.

Xander and Rory left shortly after the ceremony, after giving their congratulations to the bride and groom. As much as Rory hated to admit it, it was kind of unpleasant to see Dean so wildly in love (and _married_!) to someone who wasn't her. That, and the people who kept gawking at her and Xander to see how she reacted to the whole situation were really annoying.

So they went home.

Lorelai was waiting for them. "Hey. How did it go?"

"It wasn't a disaster. But it was really weird. I don't know how I'm ever going to get used to it." Rory answered.

"Well, if you start up a relationship with Paris, I guarantee that you'll forget all about Dean soon enough." Xander said lightly.

Rory grimaced. "Eww. Oh, eww."

Xander raised an eyebrow. "Got a problem with that kind of thing?"

"No, but... I mean, Paris? That's just... eww."

"Anyway, I'd probably disown you if you started bringing Paris here regularly." Lorelai added. "I don't know how you're going to manage living with that girl for a whole year. I suggest you try moving somewhere else next year."

"She's not that bad." Rory said defensively.

"Didn't she attack you with a sword once?" Lorelai pointed out.

"Whoa, seriously? That's so cool!" Xander said, smiling.

"It was only a fencing foil." Rory said. "I wouldn't have died."

"On the plus side, if you're busy defending yourself from your crazy roommate, then you won't be thinking about Dean." Xander said. And then promptly wished that he hadn't. "Except the whole reason I mentioned Paris was that you'd forget about him. So I've just completely ruined that. Sometimes I shouldn't say words."

Rory prodded him. "I don't know, sometimes your words aren't so bad."

Xander sketched a bow. "A-thank you!"

"As long as you're not speaking in a Gollum voice." Rory amended.

"Why are you so mean to poor Sméagol, mistress?" Xander said in a strangled warble.

"Stop it, or I'll drag you to nearest volcano and throw you in, Slinker." Rory warned.

"You can never, like, overthrow Valley Jesus!" Xander declared grandly, throwing up his arms.

"Much better." Rory said, satisfied. "Anyway, I'd better get back. School starts tomorrow."

"I can teach you how to use a sword to defend against your lunatic roommate, if you like." Xander offered.

"You know how to fence?" Rory asked, surprised.

"Not fencing, no. Just how to handle a sword enough to actually stab someone with it. It's harder than it sounds."

"Is there no end to your talents, Carpenter Valley Stick Driving Jesus?"

"Well, sword fighting is kind of a life skill where I come from." Xander said modestly. "We don't tend to survive long if we can't handle a blade."

"Where do you come from, the Dark Ages?" Lorelai asked.

"Uh, yeah, we've got a whole renaissance thing going on, there's all these knights and people." Xander said, scrambling to cover himself.

"So, is there anything else that you know your way around?" Lorelai said huskily.

Xander gawped for a couple of seconds, before he realised something. It felt like a light bulb going off in his head. "Oh! I just suddenly realised why that makes me so uncomfortable!"

"Because I'm a stunning woman and stunning women make your brain shut down?" Lorelai suggested.

"No, it's not that - I mean, not to say you're not stunning or anything, you are, and oh my God I should just take a vow of silence and never speak again because I am such an idiot." Xander said, blushing so brightly that he probably could've lit up a dark room.

"I don't know, I could've stood to listen to a little more." Lorelai said, grinning.

"Mom, leave him alone." Rory said, swatting her mother. "He might overheat and burn the house down."

"Okay, I'm just going to, uh, leave now." Xander muttered, leaving the room as fast as he could without actually running.

"You know, if he were to jump into the lake, he would probably burn it away." Rory commented.

"We could install a turbine."

"Oh, free energy!"

"By Jove, I think we've just solved global warming!"

~*~

Xander left, trying to get as far away as he could from the Gilmore house before he blushed so hard that he went supernova and ended the world.

After a while, he calmed down enough to think in coherent sentences - well, more or less. They pretty much went along the lines of _Oh God, I did not say that, I'm never going to be able to show my face there again, I should just cut my tongue out so that I can never say anything ever again!_

After that, he calmed down even more and started to think about the sudden realisation he had had about exactly why he was so uncomfortable with Lorelai flirting with him.

Anya had probably been the most indiscreet person on the planet. Xander hadn't really minded that all that much (although his friends had, often. Apparently broadcasting his sex life wasn't the done thing. On the other hand, he now had a reputation throughout Sunnydale as a Viking in the sack, which he could hardly see as a bad thing) but, then, he'd been dating her at the time.

He wasn't dating Lorelai. He hadn't dated anyone since the catastrophe that had been his wedding. So having someone who acted like Anya around, (who also happened to be a stunning older woman, which was always a combination that shut down Xander's brain. And even thinking that about the woman that he was temporarily living with made him seriously consider a lobotomy) Xander couldn't help but turn into a stammering idiot.

Hopefully, now that he knew that, he would be able to counteract that whole brain-shutting-down thing.

Probably not, though.

Xander came across a little bridge over a little pond, and sat down on it. It was peaceful spot, and he could always jump into the pond to cool off if he started overheating again.

Anya had been an older woman, too, he supposed. But, despite being born a thousand years ago, she had still looked like she was his age. So he hadn't turned into the fool he'd been around Ms Calendar. And Joyce. And that Praying Mantis woman.

Okay, so older women just turned his brain to mush. Lorelai had been right about that part.

Xander was dimly aware that someone was walking along the bridge, but it wasn't until someone actually sat down next to him that that fact actually came to the front of his mind.

Naturally, the fact that it was Rory made Xander contemplate jumping into the pond and swimming for the nearest horizon.

Instead, he asked "How did you find me?"

Rory shrugged. "All the troubled teens tend to end up here."

Xander theatrically looked up and down the bridge. There was no one there. "Get a lot of those in Stars Hollow, do you?"

Rory didn't answer. She didn't feel the need to mention that Xander was sitting exactly where Jess used to sit, before he'd taken off. Sometimes, when she came down here, she imagined that she could smell the cigarettes he used to smoke.

"Besides, I'm not actually a teenager." Xander pointed out, pulling Rory out of her reverie.

"Oh, I know. But you're close enough. And don't spout some drivel about being old enough to feel old. What are you, twenty-one?"

Xander shrugged. "Something like that. Although saying... what I just said aged me by about 10 years."

"Which conveniently makes you closer to Mom's age."

Xander groaned. "Don't even joke about that. I'm already contemplating hitchhiking back home and leaving Taylor my car."

"Come on, it's not that bad, is it?"

Xander turned to face Rory. "I just called your mom stunning. How am I meant to go back and face her now?"

"Well, um... no, I've got nothing. Unless you've got a neuralizer on you?" Rory suggested.

"Unfortunately, I left that in my other suit. So, short of wiping Lorelai's memory, I can either die of embarrassment or run away."

"When was the last time anyone ever died of embarrassment?"

"Oh, someone's probably doing it right now. It's more common that you'd think."

"Well, you're still going to have to face Mom if you want to get your stuff back." Rory pointed out.

Xander lay back on the bridge with a thump. "Oh, God. It's all over. A sudden invasion by a demon army could not be worse than this."

"I guarantee that Mom will just lord it over you for a while. And probably tell everyone in town. But there's no need to run for the hills."

"Maybe I could make a getaway in a stolen car." Xander mused.

"Look, I'll talk to her, if you want. Try and keep the teasing to a minimum."

Xander propped his head up with a hand. "Exactly how do you think you'll convince her to do that? She had no qualms making me uncomfortable in front of Luke."

"I don't know, maybe I could convince her that you working on the Dragonfly would be enough to keep her quiet."

"Blackmail? Are you blackmailing me?" Xander said incredulously.

Rory flushed. "No!"

"Sure sounded like it."

"Well, I wasn't."

"Sure sounded like it."

"Look, I'm trying to help you here!" Rory said, exasperated. "If you don't want it, then fine, go steal a car and escape into the night."

There was silence for several seconds.

Rory began to apologise (she hadn't _intended_ to tell him to get out of town) but Xander suddenly said "She reminds me of my ex-girlfriend. When she does that flirting thing, it's a little like what she used to do. And it's kind of uncomfortable, and it scrambled my brain when I figured it out, which is why I just randomly said what was passing through my head."

Rory didn't answer for a while. She didn't really know what to make of what she'd just heard. Eventually, she said "Um, this girlfriend... is she why you went on your road trip?"

"Yes. No. Sort of. Partly. There were so many reasons I left. She was just one. It ended... well, badly would be an understatement. Anyway, that's why I just blurted out... what I blurted out." Xander said slowly, as though he was putting each individual word in place, like a verbal jigsaw puzzle.

"You should tell her that."

"What?"

"Tell Mom what you just said. She'll understand."

"Do you really think so?"

"Yup. She might even not tease you about it."

"How reassuring."

~*~

When Rory and Xander walked through the door, they were greeted by Lorelai calling "Did you find lover boy?"

To his credit, Xander didn't blush at all. "Lorelai? We need to talk."

"Oh, so serious! What's the matter-" Lorelai began, walking in, but Xander cut her off.

"Seriously, Lorelai. I have something I need to tell you."

Okay. Lorelai knew a serious face when she saw one, and Xander's was currently so serious that it belonged in a Harry Potter novel. Contrary to her mother's opinion, Lorelai did know when to drop something. "What is it?"

"Do you mind if we talk upstairs?"

"Why? There's no one here but us." Lorelai said, confused.

"I was kind of hoping to talk to you alone." Xander said, looking at Rory.

"What? Why? Didn't you just tell me-?"

"I told you about half the story."

"Why won't you tell me the rest then?"

Xander closed his eyes. "Because you're young and sweet and innocent and I really don't want you to have to hear what I'm going to say. Trust me, Rory, stay young while you can." he said in a tired, tired voice.

Rory looked like she was going to protest, but changed her mind.

She knew a lost cause when she saw one.

"Okay. Fine. I'll go."

~*~

Later, while Lorelai was lying in her bed, she thought about what Xander had told her.

About how he had nearly been married, but hadn't been able to go through with it. And had discovered that right at the altar.

Lorelai understood that. After all, she'd briefly been engaged to Max, and that hadn't stuck either. Although, fortunately, she hadn't gotten as far as the altar before realising that.

She also understood the impulse to run away, because she had done that too - admittedly, she had ended up at that horrific B&B with Rory rather than going on a road trip, but the principle was the same.

However, she didn't understand why Xander didn't want to tell Rory. She'd explained about what had happened between her and Max, and how Rory would understand his situation.

Lorelai got the impression that there were other things that Xander was running from, though. Indeed, once he'd started telling her about the wedding, it seemed like he had barely been able to refrain from telling her some other things too.

But, because Xander hadn't actually told her, and had just said that Rory didn't need to know, Lorelai couldn't understand what his problem was. After all, as soon as he went back to California, she would be telling Rory about it anyway. She didn't see why it mattered.

Still, she wouldn't be teasing him anymore. Which was a shame, because she had enjoyed it.

~*~

Later, in her dorm at Yale, Rory was wondering what Xander could possibly tell her mother that he hadn't already told her.

Xander had said that things had ended badly. What exactly did that mean? Had he cheated on her with the bankrupt actress? Or the drug addict girl he'd mentioned? Or had his ex cheated (possibly with one or other of those girls, which would explain him talking about her and Paris earlier) and he just didn't want to talk about it?

Or was it something more sinister than that?

Still, she could pester Lorelai until she broke down and told her. Because, if she didn't, it would just keep bugging her. Rory hated not knowing something.

~*~

Later, Xander was wondering if he should tell Rory. Not about his magic-addict best friend, or his PTSD back-from-the-dead friend, or his kleptomaniac friend, or the soulless not-really-a-friend vampire. Nothing about vampires or demons or magic.

Just about the wedding, and how it had gone badly. Because of him. Rory would probably find out anyway - he'd told Luke, and Lorelai, and Dean, and any one of them could let it slip and then it would be all over town.

It wasn't that he didn't think Rory wouldn't understand. Given that Lorelai had done the exact same thing (well, except not at the altar) and Rory hadn't judged her for that Xander was pretty confident that she wouldn't judge him, either.

He just didn't want Rory involved in that life. He'd left Sunnydale in order to get away from everything that had happened there, and here he was dragging it all with him.

Sure, he'd told other people, but Rory was different. She was innocent, and sweet, and exactly like Willow would've been had she not grown up on a Hellmouth town. Well, except for the shyness, but Willow had grown out of that.

And Xander wanted Rory to stay that way, and not change like Willow had. Like they all had, after fighting evil for years. He wanted to keep her innocent.

Still, Xander knew that keeping secrets didn't ever work out. It usually ended with someone causing mass amnesia, or summoning a musical demon that nearly killed the whole town, or leaving someone at the altar, or... well, keeping secrets just never worked out.

He should tell her.

Should he?


	7. Chapter 7

Lorelai decided not to have Xander work on the Dragonfly. Instead, she dragooned him into helping her with the Lord of the Rings party. The reason that she gave him for doing this was that she no longer had staff to help set things up, so he would have to do instead.

The real reason was that she was hoping that she could convince Xander to tell Rory about his failed attempt at marriage.

Unfortunately, as she discovered while actually setting up the party, she really did need help: after all, setting up tables and giving out cloaks and other Middle Earth-y things didn't happen by itself. So Lorelai didn't actually get much of a chance to talk to Xander. At least, not on any level less superficial than "More elf ears, please." "You got it, boss."

Then, just as the party was settling down to become what all parties for small children ending up being (a pile of screaming and laughing chaos) and Lorelai thought she might get her chance, disaster struck.

Apparently, Sookie didn't actually know what children ate. Or how much they ate. Lorelai didn't actually understand how Sookie had managed that, because she had known Rory for years and when Rory had been the same age as these kids she had eaten enough junk food to make a gannet jealous. Well, she still did that now, but that was beside the point.

The point was, there wasn't actually any proper food for the children. Lorelai suspected that, if food didn't materialize soon, she and Sookie would be ambushed by a horde of screeching children armed with swords. Fake swords, to be sure, but that was no consolation. Lorelai had never planned on being lynched.

Just as she was about to rush out and start buying actual children's food (and, at the same time, deal with the pregnant Sookie going into meltdown because she was going to have a baby and she didn't know what babies wanted), Xander walked into the kitchen and said "Guys? We could do with food now. The kids are getting hungry, and they might just swarm over us like locusts."

"Unfortunately, we've had something of a crisis on that front. We don't actually have any children's food." Lorelai replied. "So, unless you can summon food, Valley Jesus, I'm going to have to dash to Doose's."

Xander waved his hands. Food miraculously failed to appear. "Huh. That always worked for Will." he said, under his breath. Then, louder, he said "The kids aren't going to wait that long. They'll go stampeding down the street and overrun Luke's."

"Can't you distract them, or something?"

Xander opened his mouth to say "How am I meant to distract a horde of ravening children?" when suddenly an idea struck him. Eyes glinting, Xander said "Okay, here's what we do..."

~*~

The children paid absolutely no attention when, about a minute later, Lorelai came out of the kitchen, shut the door and leant on it. She was, after all, a grown up, and everything grownups did was boring.

They did however pay attention when Lorelai shouted, in a voice loud enough to be heard over the din, "They've got a cave troll!"

Instantly, the children went silent. The only sound to be heard was the thumping of giant feet. Then the kitchen door burst open, and standing there was Xander, who let out a deafening roar.

He was promptly swamped by a horde of children. Lorelai used the distraction to make good her escape. As she did, she wished that she had a video camera, because she would love to record that.

~*~

As it turned out, Xander managed to stall the Ravening Horde long enough for Lorelai to go and get food (when she returned, Xander was teaching the kids rudimentary sword fighting. It turned out that Xander really did know his way around a blade, even if it was a fake one).

Soon, Lorelai and Sookie began bringing out the food that didn't need to be cooked, and the Ravening Horde fell on it as though they hadn't eaten in a month.

"Thanks, Xander." Lorelai said.

Xander rubbed his chest absently. "You're welcome."

"Listen-"

"I'm going to tell Rory later."

"How did you know what I was going to say?"

"I'm, like, totally psychic." Xander said, wiggling his fingers in front of him. "That, and it was pretty obvious."

"What changed your mind?"

"I don't want to keep secrets from her. Even if I'm only around for another couple of days."

"Fair enough. When are you going to tell her?"

"This evening. I thought I'd go work on the Dragonfly for a bit while I work out what to say."

"Fine. Go. We can cope without you now."

"Are you sure? The Ravening Horde can be quite a handful." Xander said doubtfully.

"Yeah, I'm sure. We'll be fine. I think we can do without a cave troll for a while." Lorelai assured.

Xander smiled ruefully. "Okay. Thanks."

~*~

Xander was no stranger to college parties. Back in Sunnydale, there had been a dorm that had arranged the "Somebody Sneezed Party" and the "Day Ending in Y Party." He'd attended a few of those, because they were the kind of people who didn't care if you actually went to college or not. They just liked partying.

However, he hadn't actually expected Rory to be in one. And not only be in one, but open her door so that the party could go on inside it. He wouldn't have thought that it was her thing.

Still, there she was, sitting on her couch sandwiched between two nattering blondes and looking unhappy about the whole situation.

Well, what kind of White Knight would he be to leave her there?

"Hey, Rory?" Xander said, cutting through the blondes babble. "Do you mind if we talk for a minute?"

Before Rory had a chance to respond, Blonde 1 said "Ro-Gil! You didn't tell us you had a boyfriend!"

"I don't." Rory replied, flushing slightly.

"Are you sure? Because he's pretty hot." Blonde 2 declared.

"I assure you, my body temperature is the same as the next man's." Xander interjected smoothly. "Rory?"

Rory stood up. "Sure. Let's go outside."

"So, Ro-Gil, is it?" Xander said, smiling. "You forgot to mention that."

Rory rolled her eyes. "They're friends of my grandmother's. She thought I should fall in with the right crowd. Anyway, you're one to talk, Valley Jesus."

Xander grimaced. "True."

Rory looked at him. "But I'm guessing you're not here to talk about my Wodehouse-style Grandma, are you?"

Xander shook his head. "No. Although those two wouldn't have been out of place next to Jeeves and Wooster."

"So what was it that you wanted to say?"

Xander took a deep breath. All the suave things that he had planned on saying earlier flew out of his head. Instead, Xander blurted "I was nearly married."

Rory stopped walking. "What?"

"You know yesterday I mentioned things ending badly with my girlfriend? We nearly got married. We would've been married, but then, at the altar, I... I couldn't do it. I couldn't go through with it."

"And that's what you didn't want to tell me yesterday?"

"It is."

"Oh, thank God."

Xander looked at her quizzically. "You're thanking God that I'm not married?"

Rory flushed slightly at the implications of that. "Uh, no. But that's a lot better than I imagined you would say."

"I'm probably going to regret asking this, but: what exactly did you think I was hiding?"

Rory shrugged. "Worst case scenario? You attacked and killed her with a sword. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I have an overactive imagination..."

"Yeah, so far I've managed to go through life without attacking a girlfriend with a sword." Xander said drily.

"Why didn't you want to tell me that?" Rory asked, curiously. "I mean, it's not like it's a big secret, not if you can tell my mom about it."

Xander thought for a moment. "You remind me a lot of a friend of mine. She would've been a lot like you if... if certain things hadn't happened. And I - I didn't want you to change."

Rory turned to face him. "Okay, two things. Firstly, that's kind of sweet. Secondly, you are really, really stupid."

Xander looked taken aback. "Okay, I'm not going to pretend I haven't been called that before, but what did I do to deserve it this time?"

"Do I look like a child to you? I know I'm young, but sooner or later I'm going to go out in the world. I want to be a journalist. A foreign correspondent, if I can manage that. I'm going to see things a lot worse than someone who left his girlfriend at the altar. And you're a nice guy and all, Xander, but I've only known you for five days. Knowing that you were nearly married isn't going to change me at all."

Xander scratched his chest. "I feel like an idiot now."

Rory softened slightly. "It's not your fault."

Xander perked up. "It's not?"

"No. You're a guy. You've got an idiocy quota to fill."

"I - I want to come up with some kind of witty response to that, but I've got nothing."

"See? Idiocy quota."

"Okay, I'll give you that one. I'll probably pop in tomorrow and give you my craftily prepared snarky comeback."

"You do that." Rory said, smiling slightly. Then she said "Your friend. The one I remind you of. What happened to her?"

"It's a long story."

"It's got to be better than that party."

"Who throws a party on a Monday anyway?"

"You're stalling."

Xander sighed noisily. "I know. It's just difficult."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want."

Xander raised an eyebrow. "If I don't tell you, how can you write a scoop on the life and times of Valley Jesus?"

Rory held up an imaginary notebook and pencil. "Okay, go."

"Her name is Willow. We've been friends forever. She's smart - at least as smart as you are, if not smarter. No offence. Anyway, she used to be this shy, cute girl. Came out as gay in college, which was kind of a surprise because she had a crush on me since she was about 5. Not really sure what that says about me. Anyway, she started using - well, anyway she became an addict. I didn't know, I couldn't tell. And it spiralled out of control. People got hurt. Then, after her girlfriend was shot by some misogynistic bastard, she went off the deep end." Xander's hand went to his chest. "But she got better. She's in rehab."

Rory stared at him. What on Earth was she meant to say to that?

"Yeah, cool story, isn't it?" Xander said bitterly.

"Um, no. Not a cool story." Rory said. "That's just... Oh, Xander, I'm sorry."

Xander shrugged uncomfortably. "Well, now you know."

"I feel really bad for making you tell me that." Rory said dejectedly, wringing her hands.

Xander took her hold of her wrists. "Hey. It's not your fault. I wouldn't have told you if I hadn't wanted to." He smiled wanly. "In fact, it makes me feel a lot better just talking about this."

Rory looked up at him. Suddenly, she became aware of exactly how close they were standing.

Xander realised the same thing. He took a deep shuddering breath and let go of Rory's wrists. "Oh, I think that you might've been onto something with the idiocy quota idea."

Rory guessed that she should probably stop staring at him, or at least take a step back, but instead she just said "Why?"

Xander shook his head slightly. "Oh, no. I learnt my lesson yesterday. No sudden spouting of things that are inappropriate."

Rory's lips quirked. "Yeah, randomly talking about how stunning my mom is right now would be wildly inappropriate."

Xander shook his head again. "Actually, thoughts of your mother are about the furthest thing from my thoughts right now."

Rory's breath caught. "Oh yeah? So what exactly are you thinking?" she said softly.

Xander groaned and took a step back. "Please, talk about something ordinary."

Rory blinked. "Um, what?"

"Something ordinary, mundane, absolutely not ero- um, not exciting." Xander pleaded. "Please."

"Uh, okay. So, you've read Wodehouse then."

"Oh, no. I've seen the old British adaptation, you know, the one with Stephen Fry and-"

"And Hugh Laurie, yes. I've seen that too. It's not as good as the books though."

"Really? Maybe I'll break the habit of a life time and actually read a book."

"Oh, you definitely should. It's worth it."

Xander didn't respond. He seemed to be examining his shoes, as though they held the meaning of life. "Um, Xander? Are you alright?"

Suddenly, Xander looked up, eyes meeting hers. Rory felt a tingle run down her spine.

She'd seen smouldering looks before. They'd been a specialty of Jess' - they'd been a large part of what had allowed her to forgive him when he'd been particularly moody.

There were smouldering eyes like his, and then there was this. Rory didn't have the words for this. Not without some cheesy cliché.

Xander took a step forward. Rory didn't move - she felt like a rabbit caught in a car's headlights (yeah, okay, so she couldn't think of anything that wasn't a cliché).

Then he kissed her. There was no other contact. Just his lips. Rory felt her awareness shrink down until all she knew was his lips on hers.

Then, suddenly, they weren't there. Her eyes, which she didn't even remember closing, opened. She swayed forward instinctively, expecting his lips to be there.

They weren't.

"Well." murmured Xander thoughtfully. "That was unexpected."

"Eep!" Rory said profoundly.

"I think that that about covers it, yes."

Heart pounding. Sweaty palms. Pleasant shivers going down spine. Don't think about his lips... "Eep!"

"I've never made a girl speechless before..." Xander said, absently massaging his chest. "Still, we should probably talk about that."

Rory opened her mouth to say something, but apparently her legs had other ideas. Like running in completely the opposite direction.

Xander watched her go. "Should I come after you?" He called. Rory didn't answer. Xander wasn't really surprised. "Oh, Xander, you've really stepped in it now."


	8. Chapter 8

Rory didn't go around kissing people. She just wasn't that sort of girl.

Well, okay, so technically Xander has been the one who had kissed her, but she hadn't actually protested.

Quite the opposite, actually.

Now she missed it.

It wasn't the same with her and Dean, when he had first kissed her entirely by surprise after months of dating. Or with Jess, when she'd impulsively kissed him just for being there and told him it was a secret.

She'd only known Xander for a few days. Sure, he had that whole tall, dark and mysterious thing going on, which was apparently her thing, if Jess was anything to go by. He had also made her laugh so hard that she hadn't been able to breathe, which was something that Jess hadn't managed. And he was sweet.

But, the main problem was that he was leaving town in couple of days. He lived in California, and he had a job and a life and everything there. And her life was here. A ten hour flight either way wasn't exactly conducive to a relationship.

On the other hand, he was a good kisser. Which, on a purely practical level, shouldn't affect her decision at all. But, right then, Rory wasn't thinking too clearly.

It had been a really nice kiss.

Rory knew she should talk to him. She'd wanted to, but her feet had decided differently.

If she hurried, maybe she could catch his lips again before he left.

Uh, hold on...

She should really stop thinking about those lips now.

Rory needed to talk to Xander. She needed to hear the words that would come out of those lips.

Ugh!

~*~

Xander didn't know what to do. He'd kissed Rory on impulse, mainly because it had seemed like a good idea at the time and she was pretty and sweet and, well, because he really wanted to kiss her.

To be honest, his relationship with Cordelia had been founded on him impulsively kissing her when that Tarakan assassin had them cornered in the basement. Or her kissing him. Or them both kissing each other.

Anyway, although he'd definitely kissed Rory, she hadn't seemed to mind. At all.

Well, apart from the bit where she had run away. He hadn't thought it was that bad.

Actually, he'd enjoyed it.

Okay, he really needed to stop thinking about it now.

The point was, he was leaving in couple of days. And, even if keeping Rory safe from the mere fact that he'd nearly married was ridiculous, starting up a relationship with her only to end it in a couple of days would be A Bad Thing. Rory wasn't a one night stand type of girl.

Was it really bad that Xander kind of wished she was?

Probably.

He needed to talk to her.

The kissing could come after that.

Oh. Hold on. No.

They just needed to talk. That is, if she managed to say anything more profound than "Eep!"

Or run away.

Okay, then. Xander was going to go over to her dorm and talk to her. Really. Any second now.

~*~

Rory was debating calling Lorelai and telling her what had happened when Xander walked in. It was one of those ridiculous stereotypical eyes-meeting-across a crowded room type of thing. Lorelai and Rory had always scoffed at those in movies.

Her feet wanted to run away again, but she shouted them down. Figuratively speaking. Because shouting at her feet would be crazy.

Yeah, her brain was really scrambled.

"So, um, Rory?" Xander said shyly. "Can we talk? And can you, you know, not say 'Eep' and then run away? Because that won't really help."

It took Rory a moment to compose herself enough to answer. Because, well, lips.

"Uh, sure."

Xander scratched his chest thoughtfully. "Okay, so I know I said that we should talk about it, but I can't for the life of me imagine what I should be saying."

"Neither can I." Rory admitted.

"So, um, what do you want to do?"

"We could borrow some of Tanna's conversation starters. They're a little wacky, but they'd get us talking."

Xander's lips quirked (and she should really stop staring at them now). "I meant, what should we do about me kissing you."

"_Would it be wildly inappropriate for me to suggest doing it again?_" Rory thought.

It wasn't until Xander took a step back, eyes wide, that Rory realised that she had actually said that out loud.

Her brain was definitely completely scrambled.

"I really want to say no. But, um, actually, it kind of is." Xander said ruefully.

"Oh, right. Well, what do you want to do then?"

"Well, I want to kiss you, but we've already tossed that idea out of the window."

"Well, we're certainly a pair of lusty young adults, aren't we?"

"I blame the linoleum."

Rory frowned. "What?"

"Never mind. We should probably talk about something other than wanting to kiss each other."

Rory rubbed her eyes, hoping that it would help clear her head. It didn't. "Okay, I understand that what I'm about to say might sound completely ridiculous because my brain isn't working too well right now, but, um, if we both want to do it why don't we just do it?"

"Um, because I'm leaving for California in a couple of days and won't be coming back?" Xander said uncertainly.

"Oh yeah."

"Sorry. I don't normally want to kiss people after knowing them for a couple of days. Well, that's not true, I'm a guy, we want to do that kind of thing all the time, but I never actually do it."

"Neither do I." Rory said, frowning.

"It's weird, don't you think?"

"It actually kind of is."

"I blame the gwitches."

Rory smiled briefly. "You know that the drunk people here are probably having more meaningful conversations than we are."

Xander smiled back. "I never claimed to be a stunning conversationalist."

"So, um, good talk."

"Not really."

"I guess not. We should probably get to the point soon."

"Uh, what was the point again?"

"We were supposed to be talking about that kiss."

"Right, right. It's never like this in movies."

"No. They generally just kiss and have done with it."

"Why can't we do that?"

"Because you're leaving in a few days?"

"Oh, yeah. Of course."

"I don't think we're getting anywhere with this."

"Doesn't look like it, does it?"

"So, um, should we just forget it ever happened?"

"That doesn't tend to work out, in my experience."

"Would it work out for a couple of days?"

Xander contemplated it for a moment. "It might." he conceded.

"Right. We should probably do that then."

"You're probably right."

"Fine."

"Okay."

"You should probably go now."

"I should."

"You're not going."

"I really don't want to."

"Xander..." Rory sighed.

Xander through up his hands. "Okay, okay! I'll go."

Xander went. Rory watched him go.

~*~

"So, how did it go?" Lorelai asked when Xander got back.

Xander flinched. "Um, it went well. Thanks for letting me borrow your car, by the way."

"No problem. But, seriously, you've got to give me more than that."

Xander had to think for a moment. The events immediately preceding the kiss were a little fuzzy. "She called me and idiot, but she said that was okay because I'm a guy and I've got an idiot quota to fill."

Lorelai smirked. "Yeah, she's got a point there. You were being a little stupid."

"Then I kissed her."

Lorelai sat bolt upright. "What?" she asked, not sure she'd heard correctly.

"I didn't mean for it to happen. But she was there, and pretty, and I just really wanted to kiss her, and it seemed like she wanted me to kiss her, so I did. Then she ran away, and I followed, and we had what was probably the most awkward conversation in the history of anything." Xander explained.

"You - you kissed my daughter?" Lorelai spluttered. "I don't even know how to respond to that."

"I think beating me to death with a shovel is the standard reaction."

"I don't own any shovels." Lorelai said dumbly.

"I'm sure Luke would lend you one. Anyway, I'm sorry, Lorelai."

"You - you're sorry?"

"I know I'll be gone in a couple of days, and I don't want to hurt Rory by leaving. You have to believe me about that. I don't want to hurt her at all." Xander said anxiously.

Lorelai exhaled noisily. "I know that, Xander. But you're going to anyway. She's already had one boyfriend skip town on her."

"What, Dean?" Xander said, frowning. "He's still around."

Lorelai shook her head. "Not Dean. Jess. Her second boyfriend. The one she cheated on Dean with. She hasn't really had the best of luck with boyfriends."

Xander gave a bitter half smile. "Oh, I get that." He doubted Rory's romantic history was anywhere near as messed up as his was.

"Anyway, the point is, she doesn't need that again."

Xander nodded. "I know. But I don't know what to do. She suggested we just forget about it, but that never works out. I don't know what to do."

"I think you should leave." Lorelai said seriously.

Xander looked at her. "You don't mean in a couple of days, do you?"

"No."

"You mean right now?"

"Yes."

"How? Taylor has my car."

"Take a plane."

"To Sunnydale? That would cost at least a thousand dollars. And I'd have to leave my car here."

"Xander, I don't want you to hurt my daughter. And I think the best way for you not to do that is for you to leave town."

"I'm pretty sure that me skipping town just after kissing her is going to be pretty hurtful." Xander pointed out.

"A lot less than it will be if she has another couple of days to get attached to you."

Xander nodded slowly. "You might be right."

"I am."

Xander stood up. "I'd better go steal my car back then."

~*~

In the morning, the citizens of Stars Hollow were astonished to discover that the fence surrounding the impound lot had been cut, seemingly by some kind of industrial tool. Similarly, the remains of one of the clamps securing a car was found. The clamp had been attached to the wheel of Xander's car.

A smiley face was also carved into the lawn outside Taylor's house.

Lorelai declined to answer any questions on the matter.

She did, however, call Rory.

"Hey, Mom." Rory said, picking up.

"Xander's gone." Lorelai said, without preamble. She winced - she'd intended to ease the news to Rory gently, rather than be so blunt, but it had just slipped out.

Rory was silent for so long that Lorelai wondered if she'd hung up. But, before Lorelai could check, Rory said "Oh." in a small, quiet voice.

~*~

Roughly three days later, Xander turned up outside the Summers house. He had a tearful reunion with Buffy and Dawn, and regaled them with stories of the things he'd gotten up to on his trips. He gave them the gifts he'd bought them.

And all the while, a part of his mind dwelled on the scrap of paper in his pocket that he'd taken from the Lorelai's address book that he had discovered when Lorelai had been staying at Yale with Rory.

Rory's phone number.


	9. Chapter 9

Xander thought about calling Rory at least a dozen times a day. Several times he even got out her number and started dialling it before realizing that calling her would be just as bad as him staying in Stars Hollow those extra few days. He didn't want her to get attached to him, not when there was no chance that they could work out.

However, when Anya turned some girl's ex-boyfriend into a giant worm demon, and Spike turned up again and it turned out that Buffy had known that he was in town for weeks but hadn't deigned to tell anyone, Xander gave up and called her.

He just needed to talk to someone. Not about demons or vampires or anything like that. Just about mundane things, like Rory's life at Yale or whatever crazy thing Taylor had done recently.

Of course, Xander knew that there was every chance that Rory would immediately hang up when she realised that it was him - they hadn't exactly parted in the most ideal way, after all. He hadn't even said goodbye. So Xander kind of hoped that he would get her voice mail, because he didn't really want to have to deal with that. A voice mail wasn't rejection.

Xander thought he might even be able to take it if she didn't call him back, because that wasn't exactly a full on, face-to-face rejection either.

As it turned out, Xander was lucky. Rory didn't pick up.

"Um, hey, Rory. This is Xander. You know, the guy who skipped town after kissing you and didn't say goodbye. Sorry about that, by the way. I don't know if you've talked to your mom or not, so I don't know if you know why I did it or not, but... anyway, if you haven't, you should, because she can probably explain better than I can and..."

Xander took a deep breath, pausing to get his thoughts in order. "Okay, I'm guessing that I probably should've worked out what I was going to say before I just called you out of the blue like this, but, um, here it comes. I'm sorry for leaving like that. I should've said goodbye, I know that. But I, um, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Because goodbye is... it's so final, you know? Yeah, I know me just leaving like that was pretty final anyway, and..."

Xander paused again, trying to work out what he actually wanted to say. He really should've planned this. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say, Rory, is that I don't want to say goodbye. I tried the leaving without a word shtick, and it didn't work out. But, anyway, I was hoping we could talk. And not like that really, really awkward talk we had before. Just a normal talk about normal things like normal people."

Xander sighed noisily. "You have no idea how much I'd like that. But, anyway, it's up to you. I won't call again if you don't want to. If you want this to be, this is the goodbye I should've said before."

~*~

When Rory got the message, she had no idea about what she wanted to do about it. There were so many conflicting emotions that she just couldn't decide.

Lorelai had told her about the conversation she had had before Xander had left. Rory understood exactly why Lorelai had done what she had, and she couldn't blame her for it.

But it had hurt. It had been like Jess leaving without saying goodbye. It was the same situation, someone just coming out of the blue and working their way in and then leaving her behind. It had hurt.

She didn't know if she could manage the whole normal people talking about normal things deal. Rory had liked talking to Xander before that kiss that had kind of ruined everything. She just wasn't sure that she could go back to that again.

So, for several days, Rory didn't respond to the message. But, equally, she didn't delete it either. She kept it, and listened to it.

Then, some guy from her English class named Trevor asked her out on a date, and, after coaxing from Lorelai, Rory accepted.

It didn't go well. Rory felt like a moron, forgetting everything that Trevor said moments after he said it, saying ridiculously inane things and being unable to be even remotely interesting.

It wasn't Trevor's fault, she knew. He was perfectly nice.

Although, come to think of it, maybe that was the problem. He was nice.

But he wasn't Valley Jesus.

So, that night, she finally decided to call back.

~*~

"Hello?" Xander said, as his phone rang.

Silence. Then "Hello, Xander."

"Rory?"

"Yes."

Then, just like that, neither of them knew what to say.

Eventually, when the silence stretched on for too long, Rory managed to come up with "So, how are you doing?"

"Oh, the same as always." Xander said airily. "You?"

"The same."

"So, anything new going on with you?"

"Not really. This is Stars Hollow we're talking about, nothing much ever happens here."

"Lucky you. I'd love to live in a boring town."

"Steady on there, Rincewind. I might not live in some big Californian city like you, but that doesn't mean that Stars Hollow is boring. We've still got the antics of Kirk and Taylor to look forward to."

"I didn't mean it like that, Rory. It's just that Sunnydale isn't exactly the nicest place to live. Too much going on here, you know."

"Like what?" Rory asked, curiously. She'd never heard of Sunnydale.

"Oh, like our high school blowing up during my graduation. Or that time when the entire town lost their voices. Or when the entire town suddenly acted as though they were in a musical for no good reason." Xander said. He knew Rory wouldn't be able to trace those events to demons, but they'd doubtlessly come up if she started researching Sunnydale. Which, knowing Rory, was exactly the kind of thing she would do.

"You're not serious."

"I wish I wasn't. So you can see why I might miss the sheer mundanity of Stars Hollow."

"Hmm, so you miss the imaginary soldiers on manoeuvres, do you?" Rory said lightly.

"Okay, so I don't miss that bit so much." Xander replied. Then, suddenly, he said "I miss you, though."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. This was just supposed to be a friendly talk between friends about friendly things and not about me rekindling things." Xander said wretchedly.

"I went on a date today." Rory blurted.

"Oh?" said Xander in a carefully neutral voice. "How did it go?"

Suddenly, Rory decided not to tell Xander how it really went. Who was he, to call her up after leaving without a word and then tell her that he missed her? Who did that? "It went great, actually."

"What's his name?" Xander said in the same carefully bland tone.

"Trevor."

Xander had the sudden urge to track down every Trevor on the planet and beat them to a pulp. "Well, I'm happy for you and Neville Longbottom's toad. I mean for you and Trevor."

"Gee, you really don't sound it."

"Look, Rory, I shouldn't have called. I should stay out of your life." Xander said.

"Don't you dare hang up on me." Rory said in a voice so cold that Xander was surprised his phone didn't turn into a block of ice.

"Why? You want me to stay here and listen to you talk about your new _boyfriend_?" Xander spat.

"You have no right to be jealous."

"Jealous? Don't you talk to me about being jealous, Rory. Do you think I don't know that the only reason you took me to Dean's wedding was to make him jealous?"

"What are you talking about?" Rory said, voice rising. "Making Dean jealous? Trust me, nothing was further from my mind."

"Oh, _sure_." Xander said, and Rory could see the sneer on his face as vividly as if he was standing tight there in front of her. "I'm sure you weren't thinking about that."

"You don't get to speak to me like that! Not after you left in the middle of the night without saying a word!" Rory shouted.

"It was your mother's idea!" Xander shouted back.

"Yeah? Well - you shouldn't have kissed me then!"

Xander, with great effort of will, refrained from throwing the phone across the room or shouting something. Instead, he managed to say in a more or less calm voice "Rory, what are we doing? Why are we fighting?"

"I'm not the one who's fighting! You're the one who suddenly went all jealous!"

"I'm sorry, Rory. I shouldn't have called. It was a mistake." Xander said sadly. "Goodbye."

He hung up. Rory sat there, looking at the phone in her hand. She kept expecting him to say something. To not really be gone. Again.

Eventually, it sunk in that he wouldn't call back.

Rory gingerly put the phone down and only then realised that she was crying.

~*~

Lorelai was asleep when Rory got home, but she woke up when she heard her daughter calling her name.

"Rory? What's going on?" Lorelai said, putting on a dressing gown tiredly. "What happened?"

Rory looked terrible. Her face was red and puffy was crying, and every now and then she convulsed with repressed sobs. "Xa-Xander. He called a while ago, an-and I called him back today."

Lorelai froze. "What did he say?"

"No-nothing. We screamed at each other. I t-told him he was jealous, and that the date with Tre-Trevor went well even though it didn't. But he was, and we yelled, and then he said goodbye." Rory stammered.

Lorelai hugged her daughter, gently stroking her hair and letting Rory cry on her shoulder until Rory calmed down. "It's okay, honey. You don't need him anyway."

"I-I-I don't want him to say goodbye." Rory sobbed thickly.

~*~

In the morning, Lorelai booked a flight to Sunnydale.

She also bought a shovel.


	10. Chapter 10

Lorelai arrived in Sunnydale at about midday, and instantly headed out to find the headquarters of the various constructions firms in Sunnydale to see if they employed anyone who matched Xander's description. At that point, she began to think that having her daughter crying over some guy that neither of them actually knew the surname of was a really bad thing. Well, even worse than Rory crying over someone was in any case.

At the third firm she tried, she found him, and got directions to the site he was working on. At that point, she got the shovel out of her luggage (it had in fact been the only luggage that Lorelai had packed) because, if she was going to beat Xander to death with a shovel, then she needed to bring an actual shovel.

When Lorelai got there (and ignored the customary wolf-whistle all the builders gave) she yelled "Xander! Xander! Where are you?"

She was gratified to see someone up on the scaffolding nearly drop a saw on his foot. Although, with everyone wearing the same neon jackets and hard hats it was difficult to tell who anyone was unless they were close, Lorelai was willing to bet that that was Xander.

This assumption was proved correct when Saw Dropping Guy turned around and called down "Lorelai? What are you doing here?"

Lorelai thought about shouting about how much of a pig Xander was, so that the entire workforce would hear her, but she decided against that. If only because, if Xander stayed up there, she wouldn't be able to beat him to death. "Come down!"

"Just hold on a moment!" Xander replied, as he made his way down.

"Come on, Lorelai. Let's talk." Xander said, gesturing to somewhere away from all the curious builders. Lorelai followed - she didn't want any witnesses.

"Okay. What's wrong?" Xander asked.

"What's wrong?" Lorelai snapped indignantly. "What's _not_ wrong? Rory came home crying after that phone call of yours!"

"Really? I-I didn't mean for that." Xander said, absently rubbing his chest.

"Of course you did. Didn't you understand why I told you to leave? I did that so that you wouldn't hurt her, you - you big idiot!" Lorelai yelled.

"I know that! Do you think I don't that? That's why I left! But then, about a week ago, I called to see if we could have a normal conversation like normal people. She didn't have to reply. She was the one who called me yesterday." Xander said defensively.

"Have you not even met Rory?" Lorelai said, poking him in the chest with a shovel. Xander didn't seem to notice. "Of course she called! But _you're_ the one who said you missed her!" She poked him again. He still didn't notice.

"Yes, and I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have said it. But I'm not the one who kept going on about how great my date with some frog was!"

Lorelai frowned. "Wait, what? Rory's dating a Frenchman?"

"No, some guy called Trevor. You know, like... oh, never mind. I was happy to have a normal conversation, but then she started bringing that up and I - I got jealous. I'm not proud of that."

"I told her to go on that date! So she wouldn't be thinking about you! And, for the record, it was a disaster!" Lorelai shouted, punctuating each sentence with a poke to Xander's chest.

Xander didn't so much as flinch. "It was? Then why did she tell me that it went well?"

"Because she likes you, and you hurt her, and she wanted to hurt you! God, men are so dense!"

"But - but what about the wedding? Didn't she ask me to that to make Dean jealous?" said a thoroughly confused Xander.

"What? No! I told you, if Rory asks you to go somewhere, it's just because she wants you to be there!" Lorelai said angrily.

"Really?" Xander said thoughtfully.

Lorelai realised that she might, possibly, have given Xander hope that Rory didn't actually hate him. She didn't want that. She didn't want him contacting her. "Anyway. Don't. Call. Rory. Again!" she shouted, punctuating each sentence with a chest poke.

Xander threw up his hands. "Fine! I won't! I wasn't going to anyway, after that last call."

Lorelai, however, had stopped listening. She was staring at Xander's chest.

It was bleeding.

She hadn't hit him that hard, had she?

Xander followed her gaze and let out a sigh. "Oh, not again."

Lorelai looked at the tip of her shovel, and then back to Xander's chest. "Did I do that?"

"Hmm?" Xander said, preoccupied. "Oh, no. It's just an old wound."

"An old... wound? What are you involved with, Xander?"

Xander gave a wan smile. "I told Rory that Sunnydale wasn't the nicest town to live in. Anyway, I've got to go and find a bandage, so if you want to continue this somewhere else...?"

"Oh, sure, sure." Lorelai said, dazed.

They went back to the main site, and Xander retrieved a first aid kit. "Uh, if you wouldn't mind looking away?" Xander said shyly, lifting the hem of his shirt.

"What? Oh, no. If you're some scarred guy with gang tattoos, I want to see. I want to warn Rory."

Xander raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you're sure..."

He lifted his shirt. As it turned out, he wasn't some heavily scarred gang member. He did, however, have a large black burn on the centre of his chest that was gently oozing blood.

Ew.

"What happened?"

_I got in the way of a grief stricken witch who wanted to end the world._ Xander thought. What he actually said was "Gas explosion."

"Marsh gas?"

Xander flashed a smile while he wound the bandage around his chest. "You could say that."

"Xander, what's going on here?"

The smile fell from Xander's face. "So, so many things. I don't want Rory involved in this. I don't want _you_ involved in this."

"Involved in what?"

"I can't tell you. Don't look at me like that. I can't." Xander said, putting his shirt back on.

"Why not?"

Xander struggled for the words. "I just... I just can't, okay? Please accept that. I'm not trying to be mysterious. I just can't tell you."

Lorelai looked at him for a long moment. "Okay. But, seriously, stay away from Rory. Whatever... business... you're involved in, leave her out of it. Or I will beat you to death with this shovel."

Xander nodded. "Gladly."

Then he realised something. "Oh. You're in Sunnydale."

"Yes. I have been for several hours now." Lorelai said wryly. "Why, have you only just realised that?"

Xander ignored that. "Tell me that you're flying back to Connecticut before sundown. Please."

"What? Don't be ridiculous. It's nearly a ten hour flight, I'm not turning right around and going straight back. I'm flying tomorrow."

Xander rubbed his face tiredly. "Okay, at least tell me that you haven't checked into a motel."

"Where else was I meant to check into?"

Oh, how could he explain vampires and why they liked places of temporary residence to someone who had no clue about the supernatural?

Well, it had worked for the Mayor...

"Don't go to a motel. They're filled with gangs on PCP, it's like a war zone after dark."

"You're joking."

"I wish I were." Xander said earnestly.

"Where am I meant to say, then?" Lorelai said dubiously.

"Do you trust me?"

"No, not really."

"Ouch. Let me rephrase: do you trust me with anything not related to Rory?"

Lorelai hesitated for a moment. "Yes. Yes, I do, although God knows why, you're some secretive guy with mysterious injuries living in a town filled with drug addled gangs."

Xander couldn't help smiling at that. "Stay with me. At my apartment. Just for the night."

Lorelai cocked her head. "Okay, that was sudden."

"Well, they say turnaround is fair play. You're the one who suddenly invited me to your place first."

"True."

Xander nudged her. "I'm sure we can come to some kind of arrangement."

Lorelai felt as though she could be knocked over with a feather. "You're really keen on this whole turnaround thing, aren't you?"

"I can't take credit for it, I'm afraid. I stole it from someone."

Lorelai nodded, smiling. "Yes, I thought I'd heard it somewhere before." Then she remembered that she had come here to beat Xander to death with a shovel. Damn him and his distracting chest injuries! She shouldn't be joking with him!

Xander seemed to notice that something along those lines was going through her head. "I was serious about the PCP gangs, you know. This isn't just some ploy to worm my way into your affections or anything. I just want to keep you safe."

"That hadn't even crossed my mind."

"Yeah, well, whatever. I've got to get back to work now. I've already taken enough time off. Look, I'll give you directions to my apartment. Here's my key. Just be there by sundown, alright?"

"Alright."

Xander watched Lorelai walk away.

One of the other construction workers came up to Xander. "Pretty girl you've there, Harris."

With a great effort of will, Xander refrained from doing something drastic, like attacking him with a saw or sticking him head first in a cement mixer, and limited himself to telling him to shut up.

~*~

Dawn normally walked home by herself, as long as it wasn't after sundown. So she was mildly surprised when Xander showed up in his car to give her a lift.

"Hey, Xan. What's up?" she said cheerfully.

"Hmm?" Xander said distractedly. "Oh, nothing."

Dawn looked at him curiously as she got into the car. "No, something's definitely up. Has something happened? Is Buffy okay?"

"Hm? Yeah, she's fine. Everything's fine."

"Look, Xan, you don't normally pick me up. But you're here and acting all distracted-y. Something's bothering you. Spill."

Xander thought about not saying anything for a moment, but he was here because he wanted to talk to someone. There wouldn't be much point in him not saying anything then, would there? "You know that road trip I went on?"

"I'm a teenager, not a goldfish. I can remember things that happened more than three seconds ago, Xander." Dawn said sarcastically.

"Well, um, I kind of met someone while I was on it, in Connecticut."

"I knew it!" Dawn crowed. "I knew you couldn't do something like that without meeting anyone! Is she a demon? Or a vampire? Who is she? Did she follow you here?"

"Whoa, hold on there, Dawnie. She's human."

"Seriously? When was the last time you got involved with a human?"

"Um, unless Faith counts, that would be Cordelia. But, anyway, that's not the point. The point is, I liked her, and she seemed to like me, and I called her a while ago, and we got into this big fight, and now her mother's here threatening to beat me to death with a shovel."

"Her... mother? Just how old is this girl?" Dawn asked incredulously.

"She's in college." Xander answered defensively.

"You can go to college when you're sixteen. Are you cradle snatching?"

"Hey! I'm not Angel! She's eighteen, okay! And that is _so_ not the point."

"Seems like a pretty big point to me." Dawn grumbled.

"No, the point is, her mother's here, in Sunnydale, and she doesn't know about vampires."

"Oh. _Oh!_"

"Precisely. I don't really know what to do about this whole thing."

"Well, if I were you, I'd try and not propose and then leave her at the altar."

"Thanks. Very helpful." Xander said acidly.

"Maybe you should just tell her. The mother, I mean, and see if she wants to tell... what's her name, anyway?"

"Rory."

Dawn's eyes went wide. "OhmyGodyou'regay!"

Xander nearly crashed the car. "_What?_"

"You're gay! That's why you broke up with Anya, because you realised and she isn't, you know, a guy!"

"I am _not_ gay! Rory's short for Lorelai, okay! She's not a boy! Anyway, didn't you notice that I've been calling her her all this time?"

"Sorry." Dawn blushed. "But Rory _is_ a boy's name."

"Can we get back to the issue at hand? What am I meant to do about Lorelai?"

Dawn frowned. "I thought it was her mother that was in town."

"It is. She's called Lorelai too."

"Wow. Was there some kind of name shortage going on or something?"

"That's what I said! Anyway, what should I do?"

"Tell her."

"I can't tell her!"

"Then don't tell her. I don't know, do I? Why are you asking me, anyway? I'm the only Scooby that's never been in a relationship, in case you haven't noticed. I'm not exactly the most qualified to give advice here."

"Well, I can't really ask anyone else now, can I? We've all made train wrecks of our relationships. And that vampire you were snogging last Halloween might beg to differ."

Dawn groaned. "I thought we agreed not to talk about that."

"That's what you get for thinking I'm gay."

"Well, what else was I meant to think when you say you've fallen for someone with a guy's name?" Dawn muttered. Then, louder, she said "So, what are you going to do?"

"I can't tell her. She's leaving in the morning, I'll just keep her inside until sunrise and then see her on her way. Tell Buffy I won't be going on patrol with her tonight." Xander replied.

"Okay."

They drove on in silence for another couple of minutes. Then Dawn asked "So, what exactly did you do with Rory that made her mom fly across the country to beat you to death with a shovel?"

"I am not having this conversation with you."

~*~

Xander got back to his apartment with about ten minutes to go before sunset.

Lorelai wasn't there. A quick glance out of the window showed that she wasn't coming down the street, either.

A pretty woman wondering around Sunnydale after dark? She wouldn't last five minutes.

Unfortunately, Xander couldn't contact her. He didn't know her number.

He did, however, know Rory's. Which meant that he would have to call her, hope that she was willing to pick up the phone and talk to him and give him her mom's number so that he could call Lorelai to find out where she was and get her back here before some vampire ate her.

Great. Just great.


	11. Chapter 11

"Pick up pick up pick up..." Xander murmured as the phone rang.

Then "Hello?"

"Rory! Pleasepleaseplease don't hang up! It's urgent! I need your mom's number!"

There was a long pause while Rory tried to decide whether she should hang up or not. Eventually, she decided against it. "What do you want, Xander?" Rory asked tiredly.

"Uh, didn't you hear me ask for your mom's number?

"Okay, let me rephrase: why do you want Mom's number?"

"Because she seems to have gotten lost, and it can get a little dangerous in Sunnydale after dark and I need to find her and bring her back to my apartment in the next... 8 minutes."

Rory wasn't sure she heard correctly. "Sunnydale? What? Is Mom in Sunnydale?"

"Well, yes. She came here to beat me to death with a shovel because of that last conversation we had. Sorry about that, by the way. Didn't she tell you she was coming?"

"Uh, no."

"Anyway, Rory, as much as I'm enjoying this half-way civil conversation we're having, I really need Lorelai's number. Quickly, now, please."

Rory thought about arguing, but something about Xander's voice, the urgency and worry in it, convinced her that that wouldn't be the best of ideas. "Okay, fine here it comes..."

Xander scribbled it down. "Thanks, Ro-Gil." and hung up before she could say anything else.

Even as Xander held the phone to his ear with his shoulder, he was scrabbling for weapons. Crossbow? No, Lorelai would wonder what on Earth he was carrying one of those around for. Ditto a sword. Xander settled for a couple of stakes, a dagger, and a bottle of holy water. In a pinch, he could drink that.

"Lorelai, where are you?" Xander said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

"Xander? How did you get this-?"

"Not the time, Lorelai. It's nearly sundown. Where are you?"

"Starbucks. But-"

"Right. I'll be right there. Do. Not. Move!" Xander said, before hanging up.

Okay then. If he drove like crazy and physically picked up Lorelai and bundled her into the car and drove back, he might just be able to make it.

Xander ran down the steps, taking them five at a time, already rummaging for his car keys.

~*~

It was, of course, not as easy as that. Sure, Xander managed to drive so fast that, if it weren't nearly nightfall, would get him stopped by the police. Sunnydale had to be the only town in the world where police let you go on suspicion of being a demon.

Xander could even see Lorelai sitting at a table with a coffee mug in her hand.

The problem was, she wasn't the only one sitting at that table.

Seriously, Anya had the run of Sunnydale, and she had to pick Lorelai? _Why?_

Xander contemplated picking Lorelai up, slinging her over his shoulder and making a dash for it (in Sunnydale, no one would stop him) but he decided against it. If only because of Rory.

Instead, Xander decided to say something witty. Unfortunately, all he could think of was "I wish I was Irish."

Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Got a hankerin' fer Guinness, have ya?" she said in pretty good Irish brogue.

"Nah. It's just that, if I were Irish, I might have better luck."

"Ah, I see." Lorelai said, frowning in confusion. "Anyway, Xander, this is Anya-"

"We've met." Xander said shortly.

Anya snorted. "Oh, we've more than just met. We were engaged."

Lorelai goggled for a moment before she managed to regain her composure. "She's the girl you left at the altar?"

"I am." Anya scowled. "Anyway, Xander, Lorelai was just telling me a charming story about her daughter and some guy who broke her heart. I don't normally take cases like this one, but I couldn't be blamed for taking this one, could I?"

"Um, cases?" Lorelai said, feeling as though most of the conversation was going way over her head.

Xander decided that he needed to do something before Anya told Lorelai everything. "Hey, Ahn? Do you mind if I talk to you for a moment?"

Anya stared at him for a moment, before shrugging. "Sure."

They went off to the other end of the coffee house. "Ahn, what the hell are you doing?" Xander exclaimed.

"Helping scorned women. You know, my job?"

"You've got no case here. I never scorned Rory. Or whatever the right word is. We were never even a proper thing."

"Funny. That's not the way Lorelai told it. She says her daughter came home crying because of you. What did you do, propose and then leave ever at the altar?"

Xander sighed. "Seriously, people have got to stop mentioning that."

"It's not exactly the kind of thing people forget, Xander."

"I know. Oh, I know. But can you just leave Lorelai and Rory out of this? They don't even know about demons."

Anya cocked her head. "Rory? You're dating a girl called Rory?"

"It's short for Lorelai. No, she isn't secretly a guy. Yes, there was a shortage of names when she was born." Xander said tiredly. "And we never even dated, Ahn. Anyway, you've got no case here. I'm assuming you've got the whole story by now?"

"Psh. I've had a thousand years of practice getting people to spill their stories. I know everything there is to know."

"Then you know that Lorelai came here to beat me to death with a shovel if I don't leave Rory alone? Seriously, Ahn, she's already taken care of everything."

Anya sighed. "I know. I don't really have any jurisdiction here."

Xander frowned. "Then why are you even here?"

"Hmm? Could it possibly be because you ruined my life I might want to return the favour?"

"Wow, Anya, your sarcasm is really coming along."

"Thank you."

"But, um, could you not? I'm not going to speak to Rory again. Can you just leave them out of this?"

Anya was silent for several long seconds. "You really like this girl, don't you?"

Xander knew that he shouldn't admit this to the girl that he'd nearly married, especially not when she had the power to make his life really, really difficult. But, in the face of that question, he didn't really have much of a choice. "Yes. Yes, I do." he said simply.

"Well, then. I'll leave you to it."

"Why?" Xander blurted. "I mean, not that I'm not grateful or anything, but this isn't really like you."

"Let's say it's because I slept with Spike that time."

"Ah, just as I was beginning to forget that." Xander groaned.

"But, if I see her again, then..." Anya warned, trailing off ominously.

"Fair enough." Xander said. He walked back to Lorelai, and Anya left. "Anya's just remembered a pressing engagement she had."

"So, that's the one who got away, huh?" Lorelai asked curiously.

"If you think that me leaving her at the altar is her getting away, then yes, she is."

"Interesting girl."

"You don't know the half of it."

"It was strange, she somehow managed to get me talking about you and Rory without actually telling me anything about herself."

"You don't know the half of it."

"Is that all you can say?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch half of that. Could you say it again?"

"You're not going to tell me anything about her, are you?"

Xander shook his head. "Not if I can possibly avoid it, no. Anyway, let's go."

Unfortunately, thanks to Anya, Xander's carefully planned timetable was ruined. So, by the time they left Starbucks the sun had set. And, due to the fact that Xander wasn't even slightly Irish and therefore had no share of their luck, a couple of vampires (newly risen, he guessed) seemed to be sizing them up.

Xander contemplated making a run for the car, but decided against it. Over that distance, the vampires would overtake them long before they got there. Especially given that Lorelai was wearing heels.

So, he'd just have to brazen it out and hope that it didn't come to a fight. The pair looked as though they were new enough not to have picked up the Kung Fu that all vampires inevitably learnt, so Xander could probably take them, but he didn't really want to explain someone turning to dust to Lorelai.

Which left threatening them with the Slayer. Xander hoped that they weren't so new that they hadn't heard of her yet.

"Hey, guys!" Xander said jauntily, waving a hand. Understandably, the vampires looked baffled at being greeted by a human.

"Do you know these guys?" Lorelai asked.

"I know plenty of guys like these guys. Now, if you don't mind, stay behind me." Xander murmured. Lorelai looked like she was going to protest, but she changed her mind and did as he said.

"So, guys, tell me, have you heard of the Slayer?" Xander called. Seeing the vampires' sudden hesitation and the way they looked around warily, he guessed they had. "Well, let's just say that if you bother me, you'll have her after you. And trust me, with the Slayer after you, you won't live until sun up." Xander said, in as menacing a tone as he could manage. He could feel Lorelai staring at him in amazement.

The vampires still hesitated, debating about whether or not to take the chance or not. Eventually, one of them said "Come on, Phil. We don't need the hassle. There's easier pickings around the Bronze anyway."

They left, and Xander let out a sigh of relief. He turned to Lorelai and said "I'm sure you've got about a billion questions, but, please, can you wait until we get back to the apartment before you start the interrogation?" Xander begged.

Lorelai, with a great effort of will, refrained from saying anything. They got in the car.

However, while they were driving, Lorelai discovered that she just couldn't keep quiet any longer. "Did you just threaten those guys with a metal band?"

Xander looked temporarily baffled. "Oh, Slayer? Yeah, definitely. They're like the law in this town. Everyone's afraid of them."

"You're not serious."

"Of course I'm not serious. Don't be ridiculous." Xander said, smiling.

"So what actually happened back there?"

"Can't you wait until we get back to my apartment?"

"Why? I doubt you'll answer my questions there either." Lorelai pointed out.

"True. Can't you just accept that Sunnydale has oodles of weird things going on, and you just don't need to know about it? You're leaving in the morning, and then you'll never hear from me again. It'll be for the best if you just completely forget about Sunnydale."

"Are you going to flash a blue light at me and make me forget this whole thing?"

"No. That's not really my department."

"What is your department?"

"I'm the glorified bricklayer." Xander said with a smile. Then, seeing Lorelai's baffled look, he added "You'd be better off not asking questions, you'll just get more confused."

"Do you have someone whose department is memory wiping?"

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Are you kidding? Of course not. I told you I'm worse than the Spanish Inquisition."

"I'm part a gang called the Scoobies and we're at war with those guys you saw earlier. Our leader's called the Slayer. Everyone's scared of her." Xander said. It was, he supposed, more or less the truth. And maybe it would make Lorelai stop digging.

"The Scoobies? Like the cartoon?"

"Yup. Because we're the meddling kids." Xander said cheerfully.

"Couldn't you have come up with a scarier gang name?"

"Hey!" Xander exclaimed indignantly. "I'll have you know that we strike fear into the hearts of... I don't know, at least those two guys we just saw."

"You know what?" Lorelai said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure if I believe you."

"Come on, I just admitted to being in a gang named after a cartoon dog with a speech impediment. What kind of a lie would that be?" Xander said reasonably.

"You just don't seem like the sort of guy who would be in a gang."

"Ha! I knew you just wanted to see me without my shirt on earlier! Checking for gang tattoos..." Xander shook his head sadly. "You'll have to come up with a better excuse next time."

"Look, someone who works construction and would introduce himself to someone's grandparents as Valley Jesus just isn't the kind of person I'd imagine in a gang."

"Stop changing the subject. You just wanted to see me without my shirt on." Xander said, waggling his eyebrows.

"Even if I had, that burn thing put me right off."

"Touché."

"So, I just don't believe that you're in a gang."

"I'll tell you what. You can keep the hundred dollars you owe me for pulling a Valley Jesus skit on your parents if you promise to accept the convenient lie I just told you and stop asking questions, because you're not going to get any answers."

"Are you bribing me?" Lorelai said in surprise.

"Do you believe I'm a gang member now?"

"No."

"I'm hurt, Lorelai, I really am. I could _so_ be a gang banger if I wanted to."

"No, Xander, you really couldn't."

~*~

Lorelai pestered Xander unmercifully until the vast amount of caffeine she had drunk at Starbucks began to wear off. Xander didn't tell her anything.

In the morning, she continued almost exactly where she left off while Xander drove her to the airport. Xander didn't tell her anything.

~*~

Meanwhile, in her dorm at Yale, Rory was thinking about something that Xander said.

_"It can get a little dangerous in Sunnydale after dark..."_

Xander had already told her about some frankly unbelievable things going on in Sunnydale. She hadn't yet had a chance to look into it, but it had piqued her interest. Really, how could an entire town acting as though they were in a musical not?

Still, if her mom was there, and it was dangerous, then she should really take a look and see what was going on there.

~*~

_Somewhere in England..._

"Hey, Ted? Take a look at this. Someone's looking into Sunnydale."

"What? They find anything?"

"No... they're looking at old newspapers and things. But, if they keep it up, it won't be long."

"Hmm. It was so much easier when the Mayor was in charge. He might've been an evil snake, but at least he kept away prying eyes."

"What we do?"

"Nothing, Harry. Not yet. Wait and see if they get close to finding anything. If they do, then it's our move."

"Shouldn't we tell the active Watcher, Ted? It's his job to deal with this kind of thing."

"What, Rupert? Nah, he's barely a Watcher these days. He ain't even in the same continent as his Slayer. Hard to Watch from that far away, eh, Harry?"

"Still, it's protocol."

"S'pose it is. Well, protocol above all things. If this... Lorelai Leigh Gilmore finds anything, we'll send Ripper to deal with her."

"You mean... deal with her?"

"That's what I said, Harry."

"Yeah, but do you mean the ominous sort of dealing with her, or what?"

"Really, Harry, I don't know how you got this job."


	12. Chapter 12

Over the next couple of days, Rory spent her free time researching Sunnydale. Admittedly, she didn't have much recreational time, what with the huge work load she had taken on, but she made the time for research.

Gradually, a picture began to emerge.

Sunnydale newspapers had frequent obituaries - even the school paper had one. There appeared to be a gang running around killing people with barbecue forks (which, given what Lorelai had said, was actually remotely possible) and a great deal of animal attacks that no one in authority seemed to be able to do anything about.

Oddly, according to official records, the amount of deaths in Sunnydale was average for a town that size in California.

Exactly average.

Rory might've thought that that was some kind of error had it happened once, but every single year? She was no conspiracy nut, but it seemed like something conspiracy worthy was definitely going on in Sunnydale.

Lorelai had said that Xander had admitted to being in a gang, but she hadn't believed him. Rory, faced with this kind of evidence, began to wonder if it weren't true. After all, a powerful gang could bribe the town officials to hide all the records of what they were doing. That would explain why none of these records were widely available outside of Sunnydale.

Then there the more unusual events - absolutely none of which had ever been published outside of Sunnydale.

Like when the entire town had been attacked by a gang of bikers in masks, who had cleared out between one day and the next for no discernible reason (Rory suspected the gangs had launched some kind of retaliation). But, the odd thing was that there was absolutely no mention of it in any later newspapers. In fact, the most interesting news story the following day was about a cat stuck in a tree.

Similarly, there was a series of rather vehement articles by an organization called MOO (Mothers Opposed to the Occult, Rory found. She was glad that it seemed to be solely mothers involved, because if it had been parents as a whole the acronym would've been truly obscene) who had been vehemently against the small percentage of Wiccans in Sunnydale. And, apparently, had been organizing a witch burning. Oddly enough, the journalist had seemed to be in favour of it.

Then, the day after, nothing. No mention of what had happened. Although there was mention of a cat being stuck in a tree.

There were at least half a dozen stories like that, some of which should've gone a lot further than just local news. Xander had already mentioned a few, but seeing them in print was something else entirely. There was the frat boy found dead with an occult symbol carved on his chest and his blood drained. The time when the entire town seemed to have been overrun by goblins and other such creatures on Halloween (written by someone who seemed to think that they were Clark Kent). Or the time when the entire newspaper was filled with the kind of dirty jokes and juvenile ramblings that you might expect to see written by a group of _extremely_ high teenagers. Rory didn't even understand how that had managed to get published.

Then Rory found an account of what was purported to be "A Modern Day Curse". Apparently, after discovering a Mission dating back to 1812, a college professor had been murdered and had her ear cut off, a priest had been hanged and a man had gone to hospital showing symptoms of various diseases, one of which was syphilis.

Amongst all the other things she'd read, Rory wouldn't have even registered that story had it not been for one thing. The man who was admitted to the hospital had been called Alexander 'Xander' Harris.

And really, what were the chances that this Xander wasn't the Xander she knew? Admittedly, he'd never actually told Rory his surname, and Alexander wasn't exactly an uncommon name, but still.

Naturally, that prompted Rory to leave a hysterical message on his answering machine asking if he'd given her syphilis. Because, if he had, then Lorelai wouldn't have a chance to best him to death with a shovel. She'd do it herself.

Unfortunately, Xander hadn't replied to that yet.

~*~

Rory was walking back from class, about three days after Lorelai's visit to Sunnydale, when she heard from behind her a man calling "Excuse me! Young lady! Excuse me!"

Rory turned around to see an older man with glasses hurrying after her. "Excuse me, would you mind terribly if I asked you something?" the man asked in a British accent.

Rory shrugged. "Shoot."

"Well, um, you see, I'm visiting my daughter here - it's her birthday you see - and I bought her this necklace." the man said, holding up a simple silver chain with a pendant with a strange design on it. "But, um, I'm not exactly an expert on jewellery, so I don't know if it would suit her. But she looks quite a lot like you, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind putting it on so I can see what it looks like? I know it's an awful imposition, but, well, my daughter and I aren't on the best of terms and it would mean a lot to me."

Rory smiled. "Sure." she said cheerfully, extending her hand for the necklace.

However, just at that moment, her phone rang. Rory frowned. "Hold on just a second, I've got to take this."

Bespectacled Guy nodded politely.

"Hello?"

"Rory-"

"Listen, Xander, if you gave me syphilis I'm going to kill you." Rory said. Bespectacled Guy blinked, then went white. Rory couldn't blame him - who would want someone to model a necklace if they had syphilis?

"Rory, I don't have syphilis! I don't even know why you would think I did."

"I found a news article about some Native American curse that gave someone named Alexander Harris syphilis. Is that you?" Rory said. Bespectacled Guy went, if possible, even whiter. Then he walked away quickly.

"Oh. That." Xander said. "That was... a clerical mistake. I went to the hospital with a bad bout of 'flu, but somehow there was a mix up and the newspaper ran with it. I don't have syphilis, so don't worry."

"Oh. Okay. Sorry for calling then."

"Rory, wait!"

"Xander, I'm not going to stick around and have another fight with you. I just wanted to call you and-"

"-threaten me with some of the most gruesome threats I've ever heard. Yeah, I got the message. But, Rory-"

"Bye, Xander." Rory interrupted, hanging up.

~*~

No sooner had Rory hung up than someone called Xander. "Hello?"

"Hello, Xander."

"Giles? I didn't even know you knew how to use a phone." Xander said in surprise.

Giles sighed. "I'm not a complete Luddite, you know."

"I would never accuse you of that, Giles."

"Hmm. I suspect that that's because you don't know what a Luddite is."

"Someone from Ludland? I don't know." Xander said jovially. "But really, Giles, what's going on? Is Will okay?"

"Oh, yes, she's doing just fine. I wanted to talk about you, actually."

"Why, Giles, I'm touched! But really, besides that burn Willow gave me, I'm fine."

"What? Oh, no, it's not about that. Do you know someone called Lorelai Gilmore?"

"Lorelai? What? Did she somehow get on the wrong flight and end up in England? Even if she did, how did you get to hear about it?"

"What _are_ you on about, Xander? She's researching Sunnydale. The Watcher's Council don't want civilians to find out about demons and whatnot. They've instructed me to take steps to make sure she doesn't."

"Giles, _I'm_ a civilian. Are they going to take steps against me, too? Anyway, I really doubt that Lorelai's the type to research things. She probably just wants to find out if I'm in a gang."

"I'm not even going to ask. The fact is, she's digging up old newspaper reports and it's only a matter of time before she realises that most of the so-called accidents in Sunnydale are demon-related. The only reason I even know she knows you is because I heard the call you gave her telling her you don't have syphilis."

"Syphilis? I haven't given Lorelai - oh. You mean Rory, don't you? And how did you get to hear that, anyway? Are you listening in on my phone calls?"

"Don't be absurd, Xander. And I don't know who this Rory is that you mention, and I'm not even going to ask why he might think you've given him syphilis. That's your own affair. You need to tell Lorelai to back off before she finds out something she shouldn't."

"Gah!" Xander exclaimed. "Why does everyone suddenly think I'm gay? I'm not gay! Rory's short for Lorelai! And before you ask, I thought you were talking about her mother, who's also called Lorelai. Yes, there was probably some kind of name shortage when she was born."

"I see." Xander had a sudden image of Giles industriously polishing his glasses. "The fact remains that... Rory needs to stop what she's doing."

"Or what? You'll... deal with her?" Xander said, leaving a pause to make sure Giles understood what he was referring to.

"Nothing so extreme, I assure you. As a matter of fact, I was about to give her an amulet that would make her forget all about Sunnydale before your phone call interrupted me."

There was a long pause. Giles thought that the connection might've broken. "Xander? Are you still there?"

"Giles, if you so much as lay a finger on her, then what Willow did to Warren will look like nothing compared to what I'll do to you. I don't care if you're trying to keep up this masquerade. Leave her out of this." Xander said calmly. Giles couldn't help but shiver. He'd heard plenty of threats in his time - he'd made more than a few himself - but that hadn't been a threat. It was a promise.

"Xander-"

"No, Giles. Don't launch some spiel about it being for the greater good. I'll try and talk to her. But if she carries on, then I'm telling her everything. I will not let you use magic on her. Do you hear me Giles? Leave. Her. Alone."

Giles sighed. "Fine. But I can't guarantee that the Council will accept that. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly the most well liked person over there. They might just send someone else."

"Well then, Ripper, you'd better make sure they don't."

"Xander-"

"Goodbye, Giles." Xander said before hanging up.

Giles stared at the phone in his hand for several moments before saying softly "Oh, bugger."

~*~

This time, Xander wasn't going to just call Rory with no idea what he was going to say or not. He tried to come up with some sort of perfectly constructed argument that would make Rory stop digging.

Unfortunately, Xander had never been one for planning. Of necessity, he couldn't tell Rory why she should stop, and everything short of the truth would only make her more curious.

Of course, if push came to shove, he could always tell Rory the truth. She probably wouldn't believe him, but if she was as close to figuring it out as Giles had said, then all he would have to do would be to explain what the real story was behind all the news articles.

She might believe him. Or she might think he was crazy. Neither was particularly desirable - in the first instance, she'd find out about demons, and Xander's life had become steadily darker ever since he'd become involved with that. He didn't want that for Rory. And, well, in the second instance she would think he was crazy.

Still, at least she would be safe. Stars Hollow and New Haven seemed to be demon-free. If Rory didn't incur the wrath of the Watchers or go looking for demons, she should be fine.

However, Xander didn't want it to come to that. If he could, he would convince Rory to forget about the whole thing - and hope that Giles didn't literally make her forget the whole thing.

So he called her, but only managed to get her answering machine. He left a message saying that they needed to talk about something urgent, and hoped that she would actually call him back.

~*~

Two days later, and Rory still hadn't called back. She hadn't replied to the other messages he'd left either. At that point, Xander decided to take matters into his own hands.

He didn't show up for work that day. The other Scoobies, wondering where he was, went round to his apartment, only to find a note pinned to his door.

_Gone to stop someone fishing._


	13. Chapter 13

You might think that someone who fights demons on a daily basis wouldn't be frightened of knocking on a girl's door.

But you'd be wrong. Xander would rather fight a dozen vampires at once than have this conversation with Rory. Especially given how their last proper one had ended.

Still, he hadn't flown to Connecticut to bail now. He knocked on the door.

To his relief, it was Paris who opened it. "Hi, Paris."

"Oh." Paris said disdainfully. She somehow managed to look down her nose at him even though he was several inches taller than her. "You're the crazy Jesus guy. What do you want?"

"Have you seen Rory around?" Xander asked, trying not to fidget nervously.

"She should be in the newsroom." Paris said, moving to shut the door.

"Wait!" Xander said urgently, sticking his foot in the way. "Where is that?"

"Find someone else to give you directions. I'm busy here. Can't you see I'm busy here? Anyway, stop trying to barge into a girl's dorm. Unless you're the type to come barging into a girl's dorm, in which case I'm calling the police."

Xander hurriedly removed his foot. Paris slammed the door. Xander shook his head, wondering how Rory managed to out up with her.

Xander grabbed the nearest passer-by and asked directions to the newsroom.

The first thing that he saw when he went in was Rory with a pile of papers on her desk typing rapidly with an adorable frown in her face. Then he quickly remembered that he shouldn't be thinking things like that.

However, before Xander could approach Rory, he was distracted.

There was a short man bustling around the room. He looked like the spitting image of Jonathan, who last thing Xander had heard had made a run for Mexico with Andrew. Which meant that this couldn't be him.

Well, probably not.

"Excuse me." Xander said, putting a hand on Possibly Jonathan's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I don't have time right now. I've got work to do, articles to edit." Possibly Jonathan replied brusquely, shrugging off Xander's hand.

"If I were to say Jonathan Levinson to you, you would say..."

Possibly Jonathan stopped bustling. "He's my cousin. Why, do you know him?"

Xander nodded. "We went to high school together. Haven't seen him since." He didn't feel the need to mention that Jonathan had tried to become an evil mastermind and take over Sunnydale. "He looks just like you."

"Yeah, we get that a lot at family gatherings. You wouldn't believe the things we got up to when we were younger. I'm Doyle, by the way, Doyle McMaster."

"Well, Doyle, as much as I'd like to stay and chat, I actually came to speak to Rory."

Doyle nodded. "Of course, of course. I'll leave you to that. Just don't distract her too long, we're getting near the deadline."

"I won't. Thank you."

Xander walked over to Rory's desk. At some point during his conversation with Doyle Rory must've noticed that he was there, because she was hurriedly trying to stuff as much of the paper on the table into her bag as possible.

Xander pulled up a chair and sat opposite her. "You know, Rory, if you're planning an escape attempt it's always best to drop everything and run."

Rory didn't reply, although she did try and shovel her stuff into her bag even faster.

"Rory, I need to talk to you."

No reply.

"Would you talk to me if I said I came here to make an anguished declaration of my love?"

Rory froze. Very, very slowly she lifted her head to stare at Xander. Xander could see her throat working as though she was trying to say something, but the words weren't quite making it to her mouth. After a long time, she managed to say "What?"

"Ah! It worked!" Xander exclaimed. Then was promptly given a glare that, if glares could kill, would've left him a greasy smear on the wall.

"I have nothing to say to you." Rory said in a frosty voice, standing up to leave.

Xander followed suit. "I know you don't. The lack of reply to about a dozen of my messages made that abundantly clear."

"Then maybe you should've taken the hint. Bye, Xander."

Xander easily matched her pace - he spent his nights walking alongside a determined Slayer. Unless Rory broke out into an all-out sprint, he'd be right by her side. "Oh, I got the hint. But what I have to say is important. If you'll just let me say it, I'll leave and you'll never hear from me again. I promise."

Rory stopped walking and reversed. It took Xander a moment to realise what she'd done, so he had to run to catch up. "Come on, Rory, give me a chance here!" he pleaded.

"I gave you a chance, Xander. I gave you a chance to talk. You told me you missed me, and then we got into a big fight. I'm not doing that again, Xander. I had enough of that with Jess."

"Rory, what I've got to say is nothing to do with us-"

"There is no us!" Rory shouted. "There was never an us! People in an us don't just up and leave without a word! Go away, Xander. I don't want to see you, or hear you, or have anything to do with you. I wish we'd never met. Leave me alone!"

It took her a long minute before Rory realised that Xander wasn't following her. Although her first thought was "_Good riddance!_", this was quickly followed by remorse. She hadn't meant it to go so far.

She turned around. Xander was standing in the middle of the hallway. He hadn't moved.

Rory knew she should keep going. That she should leave him be, because anything involving Xander would only hurt her.

So Rory didn't quite understand why she walked towards him.

Xander didn't seem to notice she was there until she touched him lightly on the arm. He flinched. She recoiled. "I'm sorry, Xander." she said softly. "That was too harsh."

"No, you're right." Xander said, looking up. As always, when she met his eyes, Rory felt that tingle running down her spine. "It would've been better for you if you'd never met me."

"Xander, I didn't mean-"

"You did. But it doesn't matter. I-"

He didn't get any further than that.

Because Rory kissed him.

It wasn't the same as their first kiss. That had just been light, their lips barely touching. This was deeper, more forceful.

When they broke it, Xander looked like he'd been hit by a truck. Rory was blushing brightly enough to light up a dark room.

Eventually, Xander felt as though he would be able to say something more profound than "Wstfgl." Instead, he said "Well, that was the best shut up kiss I've ever had."

To her surprise, Rory found herself saying "I'm surprised. I would've thought you get a lot of them."

Xander raised an eyebrow. Fortunately, Rory couldn't blush any harder. "Not as many as you might think."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Please don't be sorry. I really enjoyed that. It's also made me completely forget what I was saying, which I suspect is a good thing. Don't apologise."

"We can't seem to have a face-to-face conversation without kissing each other."

"Strangely enough, I don't have a problem with that."

"So, um, I doubt you flew all this way for that."

Xander frowned. "No. I might've done, but I'm afraid I have something more serious to talk to you about."

"Oh. Okay. What is it?"

"You need to stop looking into Sunnydale."

It was Rory's turn to frown. "Why? How did you even know I was, anyway?"

"You wouldn't have found out about the whole syphilis thing if you weren't. And, by the way, even if I hadn't given you syphilis before you would have gotten infected just now."

Rory flushed slightly. "I believe you when you say you don't have syphilis."

"Good. That's a start. Good." Xander said, absently rubbing his chest. Rory suddenly realised that the reason he was always doing that was because of the burn mark underneath. "So would you believe me if I said that it was in your own best interests if you stopped?"

Rory thought for a moment. "Probably."

Xander looked at her oddly. "Okay then: it's in your own best interests to stop."

Rory smiled. "Yup, I believe you."

Xander sagged in relief. "Oh, that's great!"

"Doesn't mean that I'll stop, though."

Xander frowned. "I thought you believed me."

"Oh, I do."

"Okay, it looks like I've still got some of my idiocy quota to fill, because I don't understand."

"Would George Plimpton stop? Or Ernie Pyle? Richard Hottelet? Would Hunter Thompson, just because it was a little dangerous?"

"I don't know who any of those people are, but I'm going to guess that the answer is no."

"You bet they wouldn't! So, if they wouldn't, why should I?"

"Well, like I said, I don't who any of those people are, but I'd say the fact that you're an eighteen year old girl is a pretty good reason."

"Are you saying I should stop because I'm a girl?"

"What? No! God no! But you're too young to be doing this kind of thing. I'm going to stop talking now, because you're giving me a scary glare."

Rory stopped glaring and giggled. "Mom's right. If you're scared by me glaring at you there's no way you'd survive in gang."

"I'll have you know that being glared at by young woman can be a very terrifying experience!" Xander said defensively. Of course, it helped when the young woman in question was a Slayer or an immensely powerful witch.

Rory snorted. "I'm sure it is. Anyway, Xander, I've got an article to write. You've warned me off. I'm not listening. Thank you, and goodbye."

"Wait!" Xander said desperately. "What if I could tell you what was behind all the barbecue fork accidents?"

"Do you mean who?"

Xander frowned, clearly nonplussed. "Who if I could tell you what was behind all the barbecue fork accidents? Even I know that's wrong."

"I meant do you mean who caused all the accidents." Rory said patiently.

"Oh. I blame my idiocy quota. And no, I do mean what."

"Okay. Spill." Rory said, intrigued.

"Vampires." Xander said simply.

Rory looked at him for a long moment. Then she burst out laughing. "Oh, you had me going for a moment there, Valley Jesus."

"I'm not joking. I understand that my serious face might not be that different from my joking face, but for future reference here it is."

"You can't be serious."

"Did you miss me talking about my serious face? Here it is, Exhibit A, Xander's Serious Face. Estimated worth: priceless."

Rory stared at him. "You're serious."

Xander rolled his eyes. "Finally."

"You're crazy."

"No, my crazy face looks like this." Xander made a face more befitting a Halloween mask. "This is my serious face."

"Can you please stop talking about your serious face now?"

"Well, you just don't seem to understand that I'm serious. My serious face goes with serious topics."

"You being crazy is a pretty serious topic."

"If I was crazy, I'd have my-"

"Don't say crazy face."

"-deranged visage on."

"Thanks a lot." Rory said acidly.

"You're probably thinking about how vampires explain a lot of what you've read. Add in demons and magic and you'll have the whole story. And please, don't call me crazy, or I will draw attention to my serious face again."

"You're deranged."

"Thanks a lot." Xander said. "I do, however, have proof."

Rory raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she said sceptically.

Xander sighed. "How many times do I have to mention my serious face?"

"Seventeen thousand."

"Now you're just being silly."

"I'm not the one talking about demons."

"Can I show you my proof or not?"

Rory hesitated for a moment, not sure if she wanted to see what Xander had to show her. But then she thought, if she was going to research Sunnydale, she might as well, go all the way. "Okay, show me."

"I can't do it here."

"Why, are you going to sprout horns or something?"

"And ruin my serious face? No, I set it up in the projector room."

"The... projector room? How did you even find that? And come they let you use it?"

"I told the class that was going to use it that it was out of order. Because I was wearing my serious face, they believed me."

"Can you stop mentioning your serious face now?"

"Not until I've done my seventeen thousand times." Xander grinned. "Anyway, let's go."

~*~

Several minutes later, Rory was seated comfortably in front of a large screen, and wishing that she had popcorn.

"Ladies and ladies with male names, might I present to you the film of my high school graduation." Xander declared grandly. "This film may not be suitable for people with photosensitive epilepsy due to flashing images. It also contains images of a violent nature, and is not suitable for people less than eighteen."

Rory threw imaginary popcorn at him. "Boo! Get on with the show!"

"I'm just trying to set the scene." Xander grumbled. He pressed a button, and the screen filled with an image of someone that Rory recognized from her research as Mayor Richard Wilkins. Presumably the third, if this really was Xander's graduation. It was difficult to tell, because they all looked the same.

The Mayor began giving a speech, which Rory didn't pay much attention to. Not only because it wasn't a particularly interesting speech, but because Xander had come to sit next to her. Right next to her.

However, the video promptly regained her interest when the Mayor began to shudder as though he was in pain. The light changed as well, and there were murmurings that an eclipse had started.

Then the Mayor, in the space of about five seconds, went from a human to some kind of giant snake. Rory reared backwards in her seat so violently that she would've fallen backwards had Xander not caught her.

Abruptly, the student body stood up and tore off their robes, revealing all manner of weapons concealed beneath them. The camera man began to panic until a short student with red hair said calmly "Excuse me, sir, if you and the other parents wouldn't mind coming this way?"

The camera man didn't reply, largely because someone suddenly yelled "Fire!"

The camera whirled to face someone pointing at what been the Mayor, and a squadron of students armed with crossbows firing at it.

No, not someone.

Xander.

"Just keep watching." Xander said in response to her unasked question. "You can speak afterwards."

Then the red-haired student and several others began escorting the parents in the opposite direction to the Mayor, only to be blocked off by a mob of people with deformed faces and yellow eyes.

And fangs.

"Yup. Those are vampires." Xander said before Rory had a chance to ask.

A group of students came galloping from off-screen, brandishing an assortment of swords and axes. Taking advantage of the distraction, the parents were led past the... past the vampires to safety.

"You might want to look away now." Xander said softly.

Rory couldn't have looked away if she tried.

A vampire appeared out of nowhere. The cameraman reared back, but the vampire was faster. There was a sickening crack, and Rory flinched violently.

Xander got up and turned off the film. "I think that's enough. Well, what do you think?"

Rory didn't know. She was thinking so many things that it was almost the same as thinking nothing at all.

"That was my graduation. I know the camera work wasn't great, but you should've been able to see most of it. Before that, my friends and I had been fighting demons and vampires for three years. I organized the student's defence against the Mayor and his minions, while my friend lured him to some dynamite and blew him up. That's why Sunnydale High exploded. Since then, we've fought a government-created Frankenstein and a Goddess from a hell dimension, amongst other things. That's what I do. I fight the forces of darkness"

Xander smiled grimly. "I'm Batman."


	14. Chapter 14

Rory didn't reply. She didn't so much as smile. She just stared blankly at the projection screen.

"Uh, Rory?" Xander said softly. "Is that your stunned face or your disbelieving face?"

Rory didn't reply.

"Have you gone into shock? Should I give you CPR? I'm good at CPR. Or I could just kiss you."

Rory smiled slightly at that. "No, I'm not quite as far gone as that."

"Ouch."

"I mean the CPR. I don't have to be nearly dead to kiss you."

"So, um, Rory, what do you think? About... everything?" Xander said tentatively.

"Well, I'm thinking that videos can be faked."

"It wasn't. I was there - you saw me. Everything happened just the way you saw."

"Yeah, I saw you. That was probably what sold it."

"Huh? So the fact that you saw the Mayor turn into a giant snake didn't sell it to you, but about five seconds of me yelling "Fire!" and pointing did? I could've done that without showing you the video."

"No, I didn't mean that. It's just that, in films, there are lots of big monsters and things. They're not that hard to make, really. But I just don't think that you're that good an actor to pull off a film like that."

"Hey! I managed to live with your mother for five days, and I convinced her that I'm a normal guy. I can _so_ act." Xander protested. "I don't know why I put up with you, what with you insisting I have an idiocy quota to fill and saying I can't act."

Rory threw up her hands. "Fine! You can act!"

"Why thank you!" Xander said, bowing. Then he frowned. "Wait a second. I was meant to be convincing you that I can't act so that you'd believe what I was saying."

"Oh, I don't think you can act. I was just stroking your fragile male ego."

"Well, thanks. I think."

"So, um, vampires?"

"Yup. And demons, and witches, and werewolves. That little ginger guy you saw escorting the parents was a werewolf. He's called Oz - although with a name like that I think he missed his calling as a wizard."

"And you? Are you human?"

"Didn't you hear me say I'm Batman?"

"So, you're a billionaire who fights demons with high-tech gadgets? Or are you part bat?"

"Neither. I'm just an ordinary guy that fight demons. It's just that everyone else I know who does that is either a witch, a Slayer, a vampire, a werewolf, an ex-demon or a mystical ball of energy that just looks human. So I'm Batman - the only normal guy."

"I think Van Helsing is probably a better analogy." Rory pointed out.

Xander sagged. "Aw. I liked being Batman."

"You can still be Batman if you like."

"Stop stroking my fragile male ego, Lion Girl."

"Lion Girl? Where did that come from?"

Xander shrugged. "Hey, if I'm going to be Valley Jesus Batman Van Helsing, then you have to have a nickname. Lorelai's already taken the Coffee Guzzler, and your name's Rory, and lions roar, so..."

"Lion Girl." Rory said slowly, as though testing how it sounded. "That's not bad."

"It's better than Masculine Name Girl."

"Well, anything's better than that."

Xander looked at Rory closely. "You seem to be taking this pretty well. I was kind of expecting hysterics or flat out denial."

"I think I'm in shock."

"Understandable. So, do you want to go and get coffee while it sinks in?"

"Sure."

~*~

"So, is he a vampire?"

"Is who a vampire?"

"That guy at the kiosk who sold us our coffee." Rory answered, holding up her cup.

"No. Vampires can't go out during the day. They burn up. They're also repelled by crosses, burned by holy water and can't enter someone's house without an invitation."

"So is he a demon?"

"No. Well, maybe, but probably not. Most demons look pretty demon-y. And they don't overcharge you on coffee. Besides, I didn't see any sign of vampires or demons when I was here. You're safe."

"Oh my God." Rory exclaimed stopping suddenly. "Demons exist!"

"Guess it's sunk in now, huh?"

"_Anyone_ could be a demon! How am I meant to go out, when anyone I see might be a werewolf? I might meet someone, and then they turn out to be a monster!"

"Rory-"

"What if Paris is a witch? She's certainly weird enough."

"Rory-"

"Or Kirk! What if the reason he's so odd is because he isn't human!"

"Rory-"

"Or-"

"_Rory!_" Xander shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Look at me, Rory. There are no demons in Stars Hollow. There are no vampires at Yale. There is nothing here out to get you. Breathe, Rory."

Rory stared at him, eyes wide, pupils dilated, breathing hard.

"But-" Rory began to say.

"Rory. Stop over thinking this. I know what I'm talking about. Yes, they are out there. No, they're not here. Stop panicking."

"But-"

"God, Rory, do I have to kiss you to stop you freaking out?"

"But-"

Xander kissed her. Rory stopped thinking - well, at least she stopped thinking about demons.

She started thinking about how his lips felt. The way his hands were gripping her shoulders. The way his lips tasted of coffee. The smell of grass, and coffee, and Xander.

He drew away slowly. Rory had to fight not to lean forward and kiss him again.

Suddenly the courtyard burst into applause. Rory wished that ground would swallow her.

"Move along." Xander growled. "Nothing to see here."

"That was some kiss, buddy!" someone called. Wolf whistles came from every direction.

"Students." Xander muttered. "Don't they have anything better to do?"

He turned to Rory. "How are you doing?"

It took a great deal of effort for Rory to string together a coherent sentence. What she wanted to say was "Wow!"

Well, actually, she didn't want to say that. She didn't want to speak at all. Rory would much rather just be kissed again.

After taking several moments to maintain her composure, Rory managed to say "You're not so bad with the shut up kisses yourself, you know."

Xander flashed her a smile. "Well, I had a spectacular demonstration earlier. I was just returning the favour."

"Well, if that's what I get for having a panic attack, I'll have to do it again some time."

"I'd rather kiss you for other reasons, actually."

"Understandable."

"So, do you think you'll manage not to go into meltdown now?"

"If I say yes, will you leave?"

Xander cocked his head and looked at her intently. "Do you want me to stay?"

Rory flushed slightly, but didn't look away. "I didn't want you to leave in the first place."

Xander sighed. "I would like nothing better than to stay. But I can't. I can't leave Sunnydale. I can't just turn my back on that."

Rory nodded, and looked at her feet. "I understand." she said in a small voice.

"Don't get me wrong, the time I've spent here... it's been wonderful. Everything seems so much lighter here. But there's things I have to do."

"I understand." Rory repeated.

"We can stay in contact, if you like. I'll visit. I wouldn't recommend you do, though. We could... if you want, we can..." Xander trailed off.

"I understand." Rory said again.

Because Rory was steadfastly staring at her feet, it came as some surprise when Xander suddenly wrapped his arms around her.

"Rory, I want to stay." Xander said, into her hair.

Rory didn't remember moving her arms to return the hug, but she had. She was holding him as though she was never going to let go. "Can't you stay? At least for a while?"

Xander took a deep breath as he mustered the will to say no. He shouldn't have, because as well as oxygen, carbon dioxide and all the other gases that make up the air, Xander also breathed in Rory. He breathed in the smell of her hair, the faint scent of her shampoo, but the primarily her.

Before Xander even knew he was speaking, he said "Maybe just for tonight."

Rory pulled away, looking up at him with eyes luminous with unshed tears. "Really?"

"Really."

~*~

They spent the rest of the afternoon in a park. They sat on a bench and talked. Xander told her about his life, and Rory told him about hers. They cried about some things and laughed about others. They kissed.

Later, they found a cinema showing an old Dracula adaptation starring Christopher Lee. They talked through most of it and ate more popcorn than should've been humanly possible. They kissed some more, and irritated just about everyone else watching the film. Neither of them cared.

After that, they went to a restaurant. Xander introduced himself to a waiter as Batman, and Rory laughed so hard that she had to sit down on the floor. They weren't allowed to eat there.

They went somewhere else, and Xander had to convince Rory not to introduce herself as Lion Girl, because he was hungry and he didn't want to get kicked out again. Rory reluctantly agreed.

During the first course, Rory suddenly said "You know, most people don't kiss before their first date."

Xander raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? You asked me to have dinner with your grandmother and invited me to a wedding. I'd say that that makes this our third date."

"Come on, you can't expect that to count now, can you? I mean, you walked out of one and ranted at me for only taking you to make Dean jealous for the other." Rory pointed out.

"Good point." Xander said thoughtfully. "I've never done the long distance thing before."

Rory poked him with a breadstick. "You don't seem that far away to me."

"I'd say something cheesy about being closer to you than I've ever been to anyone, but I suspect you'd laugh and call me a liar."

"Probably. But you'll never know unless you try." Rory said, eyes twinkling.

Xander leant forwards and cleared his throat. "My dear Ro-Gil, I'm closer to you than I've ever been to anyone."

Rory clasped a hand to her chest. "Oh, Xander! You're so romantic!" she declared dramatically.

"I think I would've preferred it if you had laughed and called me a liar." Xander grumbled.

"Why?" Rory said seriously. "Didn't you mean what you said?"

Xander looked at her for a long time before answering. "Do you know, I think I did?"

Rory blushed and changed the subject.

~*~

Eventually, after a dinner that went on far longer than dinners normally do (due to neither Xander nor Rory wanting to leave) Xander walked Rory back to her dorm. They took a long, meandering route because they both knew that Xander would have to go when he reached her door.

But, sooner or later, everything must come to an end. Finally the couple stood in front of Rory's door. Never had a door been so despised.

"Well then." Xander said softly. "I guess this is goodnight."

"I guess it is."

"I'll visit when I can."

"I'll call you."

"I'll send you letters."

"I'll think of something else to say so that you can stay a little longer."

"I'll kiss you."

"Not if I kiss you first."

"How about we kiss each other at the same time?"

"Sounds good."

They did.

"Well, goodnight." Xander said, some minutes later.

"Goodni- wait, hang on a second! Where are you going to go?"

Xander shrugged. "The park bench we sat on earlier seemed like a nice spot."

"You can't sleep on a bench!"

"Well, I can. I don't really want to."

"You could-"

"Please don't invite me in. I might never leave. Besides, I doubt your room mates would take kindly to me being there. I'll be alright, Rory, really."

"Well, if you're sure..." Rory said dubiously.

"I'm sure. You don't need to worry about me."

"Of course not. You're Valley Jesus Batman Van Helsing the Serious Faced."

Xander smiled. "That I am."

"Well, goodnight, then."

"Goodnight."

Rory made no move to go inside.

"I'll be off then." Xander said, walking away.

"See you!" Rory called. Xander didn't turn around. He couldn't bear to.

~*~

Xander turned on his phone, ignored the messages from Buffy and Dawn asking where he was and if he'd been kidnapped by some kind of demonic fisherman, and instead replayed the message Giles had left him.

Some minutes later, Xander was standing outside a nondescript house. Xander lifted a doormat, retrieved a key and opened the door.

He wasn't particularly surprised to find the living room light on, despite the late hour.

"So, how did it go?" Giles asked.

Xander smiled sadly. "Wonderfully."


	15. Chapter 15

"So, you told her then?"

Xander nodded. "I did. She seemed to take it quite well, besides a minor melt down. Then we went on a date."

"Xander, you have to be careful."

"Oh, I know. I had protection." Xander said lightly.

Giles started polishing his glasses. Xander laughed. "Relax. We didn't get that far. Anyway, Rory won't do anything - why should she, when she can just call me and ask me whatever questions she likes? I'm kind of surprised that the Watchers are even getting involved here."

Giles shrugged. "Part of the reason they've lasted so long is by being incredibly paranoid."

"Don't you mean the reason we've lasted so long?"

"Hah. I'm a Watcher in name only. The only reason they even involve me is because Buffy would sever all contact with them if they didn't. Speaking of, what are you going to tell her?"

"The truth. Dawn already knows about Rory. Anya too. Buffy will probably yell at me a little bit for not telling her, but after she conveniently forgot to mention that Spike's back in town, I'd say that it's about time she finds out what it's like to be kept out of the loop."

Giles eyes narrowed. "Spike's back?"

"Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too. Apparently he's gone and gotten a soul. Anyway, onto more cheerful topics - when is Willow coming back?"

"Soon. She's almost ready."

"Good, good. Tell her I miss her, would you? It'll nice to have her back."

"I will." Giles promised. "But Xander, you have to know that this girl of yours might have more trouble with the supernatural than you think."

Xander frowned. "We're not talking about Will anymore, are we?"

"No. I mean Lorelai, or Rory, or whatever her name is."

"It's Lion Girl."

Giles stared at him blankly. Xander chuckled. "Never mind. Rory will do."

"Yes, well, Rory might not deal with it as well as she did today. It might take a while for it to sink in, but when it has..."

Xander waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, we had the meltdown earlier. That crisis is averted, by means of an awesome shut up kiss."

Giles began polishing his glasses again. "You might not be aware of this, Xander, but not everyone wants to know the details of your personal life."

Xander grinned. "Oh, I don't know. The people in the courtyard when I gave her the kiss didn't seem to mind. Oh, and thanks for getting me access to the projection room, by the way."

"It was no problem. But perhaps it might've been a good idea to give Rory the option of forgetting everything. After all, knowing what she does can only be a burden to her."

Xander sighed. "I thought about it. But I've seen what messing around with someone's memory can do. Besides, she's well away from any demons here. She's safe."

Giles drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair as he sought for the right words. "Xander, you do not understand what I'm saying. Even if Rory never sees a single demon or vampire in her entire life, the psychological burden of knowing that they are out there is immense. She might not realise it now, but it is a lot to deal with. Especially if the only person she can talk to about it is thousands of miles away."

"I understand, Giles, I really do. But I think Rory can take it."

"With all due respect, Xander, you barely know the girl, date and 'awesome shut up kiss' to the contrary. She might not be as strong as you imagine."

Xander shrugged. "Maybe she'll surprise you."

"Maybe. I hope so. Nevertheless, I think you should keep the amulet. She might want it one day."

Xander opened his mouth to tell Giles that Rory wouldn't need it, but changed his mind. As much as he hated to admit it, Giles had a point. At some point, Rory might want to forget the supernatural. It was, after all, something that could only be a burden to her. Xander wouldn't want to take away that option from her. "Fine. Give it to me. If she seems to be having difficulties with the whole thing, I'll make the offer."

~*~

After that, Xander went to bed for a few hours, and at some ridiculously early hour he went to the airport with Giles. He took a flight to Sunnydale, and Giles flew to London.

When Xander landed, he went straight to the Summers' house. Buffy answered the door.

"Xander! Where have you been? I was worried!" Buffy exclaimed, pulling him inside.

"Xander? Is that Xander?" Dawn called from upstairs.

"Yes! Come down!" Buffy shouted back. Then she turned to Xander and asked "Where have you been?" again.

Before he had a chance to answer, Dawn came galloping down the stairs. "You went to see Rory, didn't you?"

Xander nodded.

Buffy frowned. "Rory? Who's Rory?" she asked. Then her eyes went wide. "Oh my God, you're gay! You're gay and you told my sister before you told me!"

Xander rolled his eyes. "Rory's short for Lorelai, Buffy. She's a girl. I'm not gay."

"Oh."

"Sorry to disappoint you."

"How can I be disappointed by you not being gay?"

Xander smirked. "Oh, there's all manner of ways I could take that."

Buffy ignored him. "Why did you tell Dawn about her, though? And who is Rory? Come on, dish."

Xander told Buffy the story, including recent events.

"You're kidding. Giles knew before I did? _Giles?_"

Xander raised an eyebrow. "That's what you're taking from what I said? You're skipping over the part where I met someone on my road trip and told them about demons, and skipped straight to me not telling you about it earlier?"

"I'm still digesting the rest of the story." Buffy admitted.

"Anyway, after Spike, you're hardly one to talk about not telling us things."

Buffy flushed slightly and changed the subject. "You could've stayed, you know."

Xander cocked his head. "What?" he said. Dawn said the same thing about half a second later.

"You could've stayed. I wouldn't have blamed you if you had. You could've gotten out, Xander."

Xander shook his head. "No, I couldn't have. I might not have a destiny to fight evil, not like you, but I have a duty. I'm not going to leave."

"Don't get me wrong, Xander, I'm grateful you stayed. But if you've found a girl who likes you in a town without vampires, why don't you stay with her?"

Xander looked at the door. "Well, I'm just waiting for Jack O'Toole to show up with his cronies."

Buffy looked at him, nonplussed. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. Doesn't matter. I'm staying, okay?"

"I'm glad." Dawn said warmly.

"Anyway, when do we get to meet her?" Buffy added.

~*~

Meanwhile, back in her dorm at Yale, Rory was having dreams. Xander was in some of them (which was... pleasant) and a gigantic snake and the ominous sound of someone's neck being broken was in others (which wasn't).

When she woke up, Rory lay in bed for several minutes trying to remember if what happened the previous day had actually happened, or whether she had just dreamt it. It had been startlingly vivid, but then dreams sometimes were. And, really, vampires and giant snake monsters belonged to the world of dreams. They weren't real.

Were they?

Rory, without getting out of bed, picked up her phone and dialled a number that she'd long since memorized. "Hey, Xander?

"Oh, hi Rory. How're you doing?"

"Quick question - did you really visit yesterday or did I just dream that?"

"Well, I don't know how to take the fact that you think that you might've dreamt me up, but no, I actually visited you."

"So, that stuff that you showed me, that was real?"

"It was. But don't worry, Rory, there's nothing like that in Stars Hollow or around Yale."

"Right. Okay. That's good."

"You're panicking again, aren't you?"

"No! Well, maybe a little bit."

"Don't. Ain't nobody who can mess with Lion Girl."

Rory laughed at that. "Thanks, Xander. Anyway, I'd better get dressed."

There was a long pause. Then "Would it be wildly inappropriate for me to ask what you're wearing?"

Rory blushed. "Xander!"

Xander chuckled. "Oh well, you can't blame a guy for trying. I'm wearing my Batman costume, if you were curious."

"Do you have your serious face on to go with it?"

"But of course! Now, every time you're feeling a little overwhelmed, just envisage me in a Batman costume, hands on hips, glaring at whatever's bothering you."

"Yeah, if I do that, everyone will think I'm on drugs because I'll burst out laughing every few minutes."

"There's nothing wrong with that. Besides, if you laugh at Paris, maybe she'll realise just how ridiculous she is and will stop."

"That's never going to happen."

"No, probably not."

"Anyway, I'd better get up."

"Oh, please don't! I'm having such fun imagining you without clothes on. And before you blush and hang up, I defy any male not to after you've already told them you're not dressed."

Rory blushed. "You're impossible."

"I'm miraculous, like Valley Jesus."

"Thanks for this, Xander."

"Any time. Seriously. Wake me up in the middle of the night, if you like."

"Goodbye, Xander."

"Bye. I'll call you later."

~*~

It wasn't as simple as that, of course. While Rory felt fine when she was talking to Xander, she couldn't always talk to him. Sometimes he was busy - Rory got the feeling that something big was happening in Sunnydale, and he was trying to keep her out of it. Sometimes she was swamped with schoolwork and work at the Yale Daily News (and if she threw herself into her work so that she didn't have to think about the great big violent supernatural world that she had stumbled into, that was understandable).

Rory wasn't afraid of being attacked vampires or demons. Not exactly. It was more like she was afraid of the possibility of an attack. Now that she knew they were out there, how could she not be? It was like in horror movies - the suspense was usually far more terrifying than the actual villain. She might've felt better if she actually was attacked - then, at least, she could get it out of her system.

Rory felt safe while she talked to Xander. He was like a bastion against the forces of darkness. Well, he was like Batman. But he was also several thousand miles away. She would've felt better if he were nearer.

Still, they talked a lot. Being around Lorelai helped, too, because she was just so cheerful that it was hard to be scared when she was around. And what with all the school work, Rory barely had a moment to think about it.

That is, until winter break.


	16. Chapter 16

While swiping cards for students was a mind numbingly boring job (not to mention pointless - it's not as if the students couldn't swipe their own cards) it did pay. Rory managed to save enough to buy a plane ticket to Sunnydale.

The winter term at Yale ended on December 16th, a Thursday. Rory booked the flight for early on the 17th, returning late on the 19th. She didn't tell Lorelai where she was going - she said that Paris was dragging her to a journalistic conference in Washington DC.

Rory felt bad about lying, but she felt as though she didn't really have a choice. It wasn't that she was keeping Xander secret because she thought Lorelai wouldn't approve of him - Lorelai had put up with Jess, after all. But Rory didn't feel comfortable revealing her relationship because she thought Lorelai would doubtlessly ask loads of questions about why Xander was so secretive, and what exactly was going on in Sunnydale. Rory felt bad enough knowing the truth herself, she didn't want Lorelai to know too. And Rory didn't think that she would be able to keep the secret from her, not if Lorelai really pressed her.

Rory didn't tell Xander she was coming, either. She thought that it would be an early Christmas surprise.

However, while turning up to surprise your sort-of-boyfriend can be a nice gesture, it's best not to do it when he lives on a Hellmouth.

When Rory landed, she called Xander. "Hey."

"Oh, hi, Rory." Xander said, seeming subdued. "How're you doing?"

"I'm good. I could use a lift, though."

"Aren't you a little young for that?"

"Oh, no. People of all ages can enjoy a good lift."

"So you're not talking about a facelift then?"

"God, no. I'm way too young to need one of those."

"Well, you hear stories... Anyway, if you don't need a facelift, what sort of lift are you talking about? Don't you live on the ground floor?"

"A lift. You know, like a drive somewhere?"

"Rory, I'm in Sunnydale. If you give me three days to drive to you, I'll be happy to give you a lift anywhere you want to go, but I think calling your mom might get you where you want to go faster."

"I know you're in Sunnydale, Xander." Rory said patiently. "That's why I'm calling you."

"Oh, no. No no no no no no. Please tell me you're not in Sunnydale. Please?" Xander said urgently.

"Wow. What was that, seven no's? I'm at the airport, actually."

"Oh good. Turn around and go home, Rory. Please. I'll reimburse you for the flight."

"Sunnydale airport." Rory clarified.

"Right. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes. Don't go anywhere. If you see any creepy guys in black robes with no eyes, run like hell."

"Thanks Xander, if you hadn't told me what to do I might've run up to them and given them a great big hug." Rory said acidly.

"Rory, don't even joke about that. We're kind of in the middle of a crisis here. It's not safe for you. Stay there." Xander hung up.

Rory looked at the phone in her hand. "Well, hello to you too."

~*~

Xander actually made it in twelve minutes, due to him not caring whether he got any speeding tickets. Fortunately, Sunnydale being Sunnydale, there were no cops to pull him over.

"Rory, you've - you've cut your hair!" Xander exclaimed.

Rory automatically smoothed her hair behind her ear. "I did. What you do think?"

"You've got to go home."

"Wow. You're sending me home because I cut my hair?"

"What? No! It's dangerous, Rory. Please, go back."

"I can't. I don't think there's even another flight for another couple of days."

Xander sagged. "Right. Great. We'll just have to make the most of it then."

"You're really not happy that I'm here, are you?" Rory said, a little hurt.

"Well, I'm glad to see you, I really am." Xander said, pressing a quick kiss to her temple. "But I just wish that it wasn't in Sunnydale that I was seeing you."

"Are things really that bad here?" Rory asked curiously.

Xander sighed. "Yes, they are."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want you to worry. Because I don't want you to be involved with this kind of thing. Because there's nothing you can do." Xander said. "Still, my friends are dying to meet you."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah. Some of them are wondering if you even exist. Or whether you're secretly a guy."

"Were you wearing your serious face when you told them I wasn't?"

"Of course. But they didn't seem to buy it."

"Well, we'll show them, Batman." Rory said, offering her arm.

Xander took it, smiling. "That we will, Lion Girl. That we will."

~*~

Xander pulled up outside the Summers' house. "What happened?" Rory asked, looking at the boarded up windows.

"You know when I said things are bad here at the moment? Well, things are bad _here_ at the moment."

"Right. Okay."

"I should warn you, this will probably be a little overwhelming."

"Okay."

"Shall we go?"

"Let's."

Xander went inside. "Guys? There's someone I'd like you to meet."

The corridor quickly filled with four girls, none of whom who could be older than twenty, a battered blonde and a redhead, both of whom looked like they were Xander's age, and a middle aged man wearing glasses that Rory was sure she'd seen somewhere before. The man, not the glasses. Rory wasn't an expert on eyewear.

"Guys, Rory. Rory, this is Buffy, Will, Giles, Dawn, and three other girls whose names I can't remember at the moment."

"Annabelle." "It's Kennedy, thanks." "I'm Molly."

"Ah, Rory." Giles said. "We've heard so much about you. Please, come in, come in."

"Is she another Potential?" Molly asked.

"Doesn't look like much." Kennedy murmured.

"Potential?" Rory said out of the corner of her mouth.

"No, she isn't." Xander answered. To Rory, he said "Long story."

"So, you're Rory." Buffy said.

"I am." Rory replied. "You must be the Slayer."

"I am."

There was an awkward silence. Then Dawn came forward and put her arm around Rory's shoulders. "So, Rory, did Xander tell you about the time he came to class in his underpants?"

Rory let out a sudden giggle at that. "No! Really?"

Dawn shot Xander a wicked grin as she led Rory through to the living room. "Would I lie to you?"

"Xander." Buffy said in a low voice. "What were you thinking? Why'd you bring her here?"

"Aaand I think that's our cue to leave." Kennedy said to the other Potentials. They left.

"I didn't bring her here. Do you really think I'd bring her here? She brought herself here!" Xander snapped.

Buffy rubbed her face tiredly. "Sorry, Xander. I didn't mean it like that. It's been a long day, and I don't need this."

"She seems like a nice girl though." Willow interjected.

Before anyone else had a chance to say anything, there was a high pitched squeal from the living room.

"I'm guessing Rory's just spotted Andrew." Buffy said drily.

"Oh God, Andrew! I forgot all about him!" Xander said, making a dash for the living room.

"Xander, why do you have someone tied to a chair in here?" Rory asked, with a dash of hysteria creeping into her voice.

"Oh, that's just Andrew. Don't mind him. He's harmless." Dawn said dismissively.

"Hey!"

"Well, you are. We're not a tiny anaemic guy who happens to think that you're his friend." Dawn frowned. "Does that even make sense?"

"Um, would you accept that it's a long story?" Xander said uncomfortably.

"I-I-I-I'm going outside." Rory said, taking one last look at Andrew.

"Come on, Rory!" Xander exclaimed, following her outside. "I told you we're having a bit of a crisis right now!"

"Yeah? Do you normally not have people tied up in your house then?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I don't normally have people tied up in my house! I'm not into that kind of thing." Xander said, thinking about that time when he'd had Spike staying with him.

"You're right. I shouldn't have come. Maybe I can catch some connecting flight or something."

"Rory, you know what I do here. Did you think it would be all sweetness and light?" Xander said exasperatedly.

"I didn't think it would be like this!" Rory shouted, waving a hand at the boarded up, broken windows.

"Rory, I'm sorry. I didn't want you to see this, you know that. But I've told you exactly what it's like. You know how dangerous it is here. Hell, Buffy's died three times! I know it's kind of a surprise to actually see it, but... well, I did tell you."

"I wish you hadn't." Rory spat.

Xander looked at her for a long moment. "I never wanted to tell you, you know. I just wanted to keep you out of this. You're the one who kept digging, and digging, and digging. I could've left you in peace to get on with your life."

"Don't get me wrong, Xander, I enjoy being with you. But it'll never be the same as it was before I found out. It won't be as easy. Do you know, I've been having nightmares ever since you told me? I wish I didn't know." Rory said quietly, not looking at Xander.

"It's not too late for that, you know." Xander said softly.

"What?" Rory said, nonplussed.

"Magic can do a lot. It can make you forget this. All of this." Xander said, arm sweeping out to demonstrate that he wasn't just talking about the Summers' house, or even Sunnydale. He meant the supernatural world as a whole.

"I - uh, it can?" Rory said, eyes wide.

Xander nodded. "Yup. I didn't want to tell you because, well, I told you what happened with Willow. But the options there, if you want it."

"I can forget this?"

Xander rolled his eyes. "I've got my serious face on, Rory."

"I guess you do." Rory said thoughtfully.

"You don't have to make the decision now. You've got ti-"

"No." Rory interrupted. "No, I want to forget. You don't know what it's been like, these last few months, knowing that anyone I meet might be a demon or a witch or something. Well, actually, you probably do. I don't know how you can live like that. I managed to get through it by working a lot, and talking to you and Lorelai help, but it's the holidays now. I've got nothing but time to think about it. And I really, really don't want to. So if I don't have to, I'm not going to."

"Are you sure, Rory? It's a big decision. You should at least sleep on it."

"Sleep? Didn't I mention the nightmares? Xander, if-"

Xander threw up his hands. "Okay, okay! I get the picture! You want to forget. I get that. I wouldn't mind forgetting about it myself right now."

"Sorry." Rory said in a small voice.

"You've got nothing to apologise for." Xander said lightly. "Come on. The magic amulet's in my apartment."

Rory followed Xander to where he'd parked his car. "I'm sorry for not being able to take this."

Xander opened the door for her. "Like I said, you've got nothing to apologise for."

~*~

They drove back in silence. When they got back to Xander's apartment, he pulled the amulet out from a desk draw. For some reason, Rory felt sure that she had seen it before, but she couldn't quite remember where.

"So, um, how does this work?" Rory said nervously, taking the amulet. It felt strangely warm.

"Giles says you just put it on."

"Giles?"

"Yeah. It's his amulet. He gave it to me when I told him I'd told you about everything. He said you might need it." Xander gave a bitter a half smile. "I guess he was right."

"I guess so." Rory said softly, tracing a finger along the curious design on the pendant. She took a deep breath. "Well, here goes."

Rory pulled the amulet over her head.

Rory had seen footage of towns being hit by tornadoes. She'd often wondered what it would be like to be in one.

Now, it felt like one was going through her head. It felt as though the space inside her skull was so much larger than her skull that it couldn't contain it. She could feel thoughts and memories sleeting through her mind so quickly that she could barely even grasp the edges of them.

But, in the centre, there was an area of calm where everything that made Rory Rory just sat and watched everything go streaming past. A part of her knew exactly what was happening, even while the rest of her was in too much of whirl to know everything.

Then it stopped. Rory didn't know how long it had lasted, but it just stopped. Her memories and thoughts settled back down.

She opened her eyes. She didn't remember closing them.

A man was peering at her, clearly concerned. Rory frowned.

"I'm sorry. Who are you?"


	17. Chapter 17

The words kept echoing in Xander's ears. He felt an incredible pressure building in his head, as though at any moment his brain might collapse and start dribbling out of his ears.

"_I'm sorry. Who are you?_"

Xander should've known better not to trust magic. Not after everything it had done. He shouldn't have done it.

But he didn't give any of this away. While he wanted to rant and curse, Xander just said in voice so calm that it surprised him "Doesn't matter who I am. Are you alright? You-you were walking outside and you just collapsed, so I brought you up here. What do you remember?"

Rory frowned. What did she remember?

Then the memories fell into place like a jigsaw puzzle coming together. "I-I was going to go to a journalistic conference in LA with Par- a friend of mine. But she got ill, and the conference was cancelled."

Xander kept his face carefully blank. So, the amulet hadn't erased all of Rory's memories, not like Willow's spell. It had even given Rory substitute memories. That wasn't so bad.

Although he was going to kill Giles for not mentioning that the amulet would make Rory forget him too.

"Oh my God!" Rory said suddenly, pulling something out of her pocket. "Please tell me I'm not going to miss my flight?!"

Xander frowned, looking at something that looked remarkably like a plane ticket which Rory had just pulled from her pocket. He knew that Rory wasn't due to fly back to Connecticut for another couple of days. She had said that there wasn't even another flight until then.

So, had the amulet managed to conjure up a whole new flight, just for Rory, or had she somehow been put on an already existing flight? If it had, just how did that work? It looked as though Giles had more questions to answer.

"So, um, do you want a lift to the airport?" Xander said suddenly.

Rory began to say no, because accepting rides from strangers wasn't ever a good idea, but something stopped her. "Yeah, sure. Thanks."

Xander gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Right. Let's go."

~*~

It was weird. Rory would've thought that being in a car with a total stranger would've been really uncomfortable, especially since neither of them said a word to each other. But it wasn't. Not at all.

Although the way he kept glancing at her neck was strange. Was there such a thing as a neck fetish? Rory tried to look at it to see if she'd spilt coffee on it or something, but she couldn't see anything. She even rubbed it, but there wasn't anything there.

"So." Xander said, a few minutes later. "Here we are."

Rory got out. "Thank you, um..." she realised that she hadn't ever asked his name.

"It's nothing." Xander said shortly. "Have a nice flight."

"Thanks." Rory said, then turned to leave.

By the time she got to the check in desk, she had forgotten the entire incident. As far as she knew, she had gotten to Sunnydale to catch a bus to LA, only to find her conference was cancelled but the organization holding it had bought her a ticket back. As far as she knew, she hadn't even left the airport.

~*~

Xander drove back to the Summers' house slowly. He wouldn't have gone back at all, if it hadn't been for the fact that Giles was there. He just wanted to go back to his apartment and listen to country music. The music of pain.

Still, he needed to have a few words with Giles before he did that.

Of course, Xander should've known that the moment he came in the door without Rory, he would be bombarded with questions as to where Rory was and what had happened between the two of them.

Xander banged a hand on the wall to cut through the babble. Silence fell.

"She broke up with me, okay? She was just here as a stopover to a conference in LA, and we broke up. Okay? Please stop with the questions now." Xander said with a calmness that he really didn't feel.

There was an awkward silence. Xander was suddenly really, really glad that Anya wasn't around.

Xander went into the kitchen, where he found Giles brewing a cup of tea. "Hey, Giles? Can I have a moment?"

"Just a second." Giles said distractedly.

Xander grabbed his arm and dragged him outside. "No, Giles, I kind of need to talk right now."

"What's wrong?"

Xander sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. "I gave Rory the amulet."

Giles nodded. "I thought you might."

"She doesn't remember me, Giles. The amulet messed with her memory, she thinks she was here for a completely different reason. It even put her on an entirely different flight. And then it just vanished. She put it on, then sat there for a second, next second she forgot who I was and the amulet suddenly wasn't there anymore."

Giles looked at Xander uncertainly. "Yes?"

"Did you know that would happen? That she would forget me?"

"Well, yes. Of course."

Xander looked at him incredulously. "And you didn't think that you should _tell_ me that?"

"Xander, think through this logically. She started exploring Sunnydale because of you. She found out about the supernatural because of you. To her, you are intrinsically linked to the world she is trying to forget. If she were to remember you, it would defeat the entire purpose of making her forget everything else." Giles said reasonably.

"Why didn't you tell me that?" Xander said through gritted teeth.

"Because it's obvious, Xander. I told you that she would forget the supernatural. And you, while human, are also a demon hunter. More than that, you were Rory's gateway into this world. I didn't think it needed to be said."

"Giles, I'm not logical. I'm not clever, like you or Buffy or Will. If something isn't blindingly obvious, I'm not going to figure it out. I didn't work that out. I thought Rory would just-"

"-forget the supernatural? She has, Xander. That's the whole point. That's what the amulet does. That's what it was made for. I'm sorry that I didn't spell it out for you. I assumed that you knew what would happen. I thought that that was why you didn't offer it to her in the first place. I'm sorry, Xander."

Xander sighed, leaning against the wall as though he didn't have the energy to stay standing upright any longer. "I guess I should've asked. I mean, you'd think that I'd be used to the fact that magic has about a bazillion side effects by now. But I didn't want to know. I didn't want her to forget, and I thought she was doing alright, that we were doing alright, but then she came here... I should've asked."

Giles contemplated putting his hand comfortingly on Xander's shoulder, but he didn't feel comfortable doing that. Call that being British. "I should've told you. I should've made it clear what would happen."

Xander shrugged. "It's not really your fault. I didn't want to know." His hand went to his chest. "Magic kind of creeps me out these days, since, you know..."

"Yes. Well. Would you like a cup of tea?" Giles said awkwardly.

Xander opened his mouth to say he'd rather have a coffee, but changed his mind. Tea would be just the thing. Xander nodded and said "That would be great, but if you could give me just a moment, I've got a call to make."

Giles nodded and went back to the kitchen.

Xander pulled out his phone and called Lorelai, hoping that it would go to voicemail.

Unfortunately, Xander still wasn't Irish and therefore had no such luck. "Hello?"

"Merry Christmas, Lorelai."

"Xander? What are you doing calling me?"

Xander realised that he really had to stop calling people without planning what to say. He scrambled for something to tell Lorelai that wouldn't involve magic. "Uh, you know that conference in LA Rory was going to?" Xander said, knowing that that was where Rory had told Lorelai she was going.

"Yes? Although I'm sure she said it was in DC. Oh. You're going to me she visited you, aren't you. What, was Sunnydale a layover or something?"

"Yeah. Well, she came, and, well, we kind of got into a great big fight-"

"If you-"

"Please let me finish, Lorelai! Thank you. Anyway, we got into a big fight, and she left, and she said something about never wanting to hear my name again, and I thought I had better tell you so that you don't say something and she has a meltdown. I think..." Xander took a deep breath. "I think it would be for the best if she forgot all about me."

There was a long silence. "Lorelai? Are you still there?"

"Yeah. I, uh, yeah, I'm here." Lorelai said in a subdued voice. "Thanks, Xander."

Xander swallowed convulsively. "Yeah, well, um, it's not really a problem. Goodbye."

"Goodbye. Oh, and Xander?"

"Yes?"

"Merry Christmas."

Xander hung up, and remained leaning against the wall for about a minute, staring at his phone, before pushing himself upright to join Giles in the kitchen.

"So, Giles." Xander said in a falsely cheerful voice. "Tell me. Just what is a Luddite?"

~*~

Sometime later, Xander was sitting at the kitchen table with a half a mug of cold tea in one hand, staring at the table. Dawn came and sat next to him.

"So, um, how you doing? I mean, you're probably not doing that great, 'cause we've got an apocalypse in the works and your girl dumped you just before Christmas, but, um, I'm really not helping, am I?"

"She didn't dump me." Xander said, not looking up.

"Sure, sure. You dumped her. Whatever. Anyway, if you want anything..."

Xander looked at her. "I didn't dump her. And, before you mention it, we didn't elope only for me to leave her at the altar either."

Dawn flushed slightly and looked away. "I wasn't going to say that. But if she didn't dump you, and you didn't dump her, what happened? Did you employ some kind of third party dumping official?"

Xander didn't smile, but he did go back to table staring. "Giles gave me an amulet, back when I first told her about everything. It would make her forget, you know, if she couldn't take it. I gave it to her just now."

"Oh. And she forgot you." Dawn surmised.

Xander's lips curled in bitter smile. "Yeah. But stupid, glorified bricklayer that I am, I didn't think about that. I didn't realise that would happen."

Dawn, not being British, felt comfortable enough to put her hand on Xander's shoulder. "It's not your fault, Xander. That's just the way things happen sometimes. So she forgot you. You'll move on and forget her too."

Xander put his hand over Dawn's. Dawn blushed. "Thanks, Dawn. I'll try."

Dawn toyed briefly about saying something about her being a blue eyed brunette of a similar age to Rory, but decided she would probably burst into flames if she did. So she left Xander to his table staring.

~*~

When Rory got home to Stars Hollow, she was immediately greeted by the smell of Luke's burgers. She went in, to see a table that was completely buried underneath a mound of takeaway food, with Lorelai sprawled on the sofa reading a magazine, while the television was ready to play a film.

Lorelai leapt up when Rory came in. "Hey, Rory! Come in, come in. How are you doing?"

"I'm great." Rory said, eying the spread. "Wow. That's a lot of food."

Lorelai shrugged. "Well, I tried to get enough to keep us going until next year, but I just couldn't carry that much."

"So you carried all this back at once? I'm impressed."

"Well, you said your conference was cancelled, and I thought you'd be hungry, so I rushed out and got everything I could. I would've gone out again, but I was distracted by this magazine."

"It's the thought that counts." Rory said, smiling. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, sweetie. Welcome home."


	18. Chapter 18

It didn't happen very often. Just often enough for Rory to notice.

During the month and a half following Rory's return home for winter break, Rory noticed... well, it was difficult to describe exactly what she noticed.

Sometimes, she would see Kirk do something more than usually weird, or Taylor would do something especially Taylorish, and Rory would think "I should tell-" but she could never finish the thought. She didn't know who it was that she wanted to contact. It wasn't Lorelai, because more often than not she was right by her side when she saw these things happening. It wasn't Lane, either, for the same reason.

It was similar to the weeks immediately following Jess leaving. Then, when Rory had read an interesting book, she would think about how much Jess would like to read it.

But then Rory would remember that Jess was gone, and she wouldn't be able to give him any books ever again, or talk to about what she had read. Rory had felt as though there was a ball high in the centre of her chest, pushing down on her lungs and making her heart ache.

Rory felt kind of the same way now, only she didn't have any idea why.

Other times, Rory would see someone walking down the street, and she would open her mouth to call out to them, but when she did she couldn't remember what the person she wanted to speak to was called - or, indeed, who the person that she wanted to speak to _was_.

It was strange, but then it didn't happen all that often. Most of the time, what with her school work and her work at the Yale Daily News, Rory didn't have time to think about what was happening, except to notice that it was.

Then things changed, in the beginning of February, when she saw his car.

Jess' car. She knew it was Jess' car. She could recognise that car anywhere. It was a distinctive car - who else in Stars Hollow had a broken down clunker like that?

And, unsurprisingly, the hollow ball in her chest was back.

She left Lorelai, who was busy talking to her boyfriend Jason and explaining why she hadn't managed to tell her parents that they were dating yet, and walked over to the car.

Jess was huddled in the back of his car, apparently sleeping.

Except that, just for a second, when Rory saw him lying there, she didn't see Jess. She did see a dark haired man, to be sure, but older than Jess was. He was taller, too, with a bigger frame. Rory only saw him for a moment before she was struck by a blinding headache that lasted for a fraction of a second.

Rory pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes watering a little, trying to remember what she'd been thinking. She couldn't remember.

But Jess was there, and the ball was still there.

Rory heard Lorelai come up behind her, but she didn't turn around.

"Do you think Luke knows he's here?" Lorelai asked.

Rory somehow managed to tear her eyes away from Jess' sleeping form. "Probably. He lives just over there." she said, gesturing across the street.

"But he might not know."

Rory rubbed her forehead. Lorelai looked at her, concerned. "Are you alright, sweetie?"

"I... yeah, I'm okay. I-I guess it's just the cold, giving me a headache."

Lorelai wasn't buying that. She knew emotional distress caused by boy trouble when she saw it. "Are you sure? I mean, having Jess just turn up like this, and-" Lorelai managed to stop herself from saying "that thing with Xander a couple of months ago."

Rory didn't seem to notice the cut off sentence. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'll just - I'll go home."

"Alright, sweetie. I'll tell Luke, check to see if he knows Jess is here."

"Okay." Rory said absently.

~*~

Xander was subdued. Even more subdued than one might expect someone to be in the midst of an apocalypse.

Everyone knew that that was because of Rory. But they didn't know why Xander went to such great lengths to avoid being around Giles, or why he snapped at him over every little thing.

Well, no one except Dawn and Giles, that is. Dawn just hoped he'd get over it eventually, whilst Giles knew that nothing he could say would make Xander forgive him before he was ready.

Then, Buffy revealed Giles and Robin's plan to kill Spike before the First activated his trigger and he killed someone.

Xander didn't like Spike. At all. He would happily stick a stake in him, should it prove necessary. But the problem was, it hadn't been necessary. Not only that, but it had been _Giles'_ unnecessary plan.

"What were you thinking?" Xander shouted at Giles.

"Spike was dangerous. He needed to be stopped." Giles said calmly, as he'd already said several times before.

"Uh huh. So you thought you'd get him killed just after you use magic to remove the trigger? Tell me, Giles, how exactly does that make sense?"

"You don't wait to see if a rabid dog can be cured. You just shoot it."

With a great deal of effort, Xander managed to calm down. Slightly. "Giles, you didn't have all the information. There was no point in trying to kill Spike until you found out for sure whether you needed to kill him. But then, you have problems with information, don't you?"

"This is about Rory, isn't it?"

"No!" Xander snapped. "It's about that test you put Buffy through when she turned 18! It's about hiding your past with Ethan Rayne! Giles, you need to tell us things, because if you don't - well, unsurprisingly, _we won't know them!_."

"Xander, I can explain to you a thousand times why I did what I did. I did not like doing it-"

"Then why do it? Why not take the time to explain something, Giles? A few simple words was all it would've taken."

"Ah, now I know we're talking about Rory."

"Yes! Would it have been so hard to say "Xander, she'll forget you too"?"

"I explained that."

Xander sighed noisily "I know you did. But I don't care. Giles, you have massive problems telling people things. I think you should probably work on that."

"Xander-"

"No, Giles." Xander said, standing up. "I've had enough of this. I'm going out."

~*~

Rory saw Jess again the next day, at Luke's. She supposed that she shouldn't really be all that surprised to see him there - Luke was his uncle, after all. But she didn't expect him to just say "I'm leaving." and then leave.

She didn't follow him, or say anything. Rory sat there, holding her coffee, staring at the door that Jess had stormed out of. It reminded her of something, but she couldn't quite remember what.

Eventually, Rory came to the conclusion that it must've just reminded her of Jess' previous behaviour, before he'd left. Rory stood up, murmuring "Suddenly I'm not thirsty anymore."

~*~

Rory saw him again, at the bookshop. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised at that, either. He was the only person she'd ever met who read as much as she did. By then, she wasn't surprised when he went to leave without saying a word.

However, Rory was rather surprised when she called after him. "Jess! Wait!"

She was surprised when he did. Not only did Jess stop, but he came back. But he still didn't say a word.

"So, how're you doing, Jess?"

Jess' eyes widened slightly, as though surprised that Rory was even willing to talk to him. She supposed that, after him failing to graduate high school and then running away, no one would blame her if she didn't. "Fine. You?"

"Good. Same as always." Rory replied.

Then there was an awkward silence, neither teenager knowing what to say to the other.

Eventually, Jess exhaled loudly and said "Well, that's enough small talk, I think. I'd better be going."

"You don't have to run away because of me, you know." Rory said suddenly.

Jess looked at her, not sure what to say.

"I mean, you don't have to run just because I'm here. I-I know things didn't exactly end well, what with you suddenly leaving the way you did, but... you don't have to run because of me."

"It wasn't because of you." Jess said. He looked surprised that he had spoken. "Well, not just because of you. I left because of Luke, and school and... other things. I'm working through those. But I didn't run from you. I'd never run from you."

"Except today." Rory said with a tremulous smile.

Jess had the grace to look a little embarrassed about that. "Yeah. Sorry. I just... I didn't know how you'd handle me being back."

"Are you? Are you back?"

Jess shook his head. "No. Not yet, anyway. There's still some things I have to work through before I can come back."

"You know, Jess, if you wanted to, we could have a normal conversation about normal things like normal people. If you want."

Jess smiled crookedly. "Maybe."

Rory rubbed her temple. She could feel the beginnings of a head ache coming on. "Just don't leave without a word this time. I don't think I could handle that."

~*~

Xander should've known that Buffy would come and find him. He knew that he shouldn't really be out after dark, although the Bringers shouldn't come after him because he wasn't a Slayer or a Potential. But he just didn't have the strength to stay in the Summers' house and deal with all the Potentials and Giles and Andrew and everything.

He wanted to get away again. It was the same way he'd felt just before his road trip. Only this time, he couldn't go, he couldn't leave everyone else to deal with the First Evil while he gallivanting across the country. So he settled for ambling around Sunnydale.

"So, I heard you yell at Giles. I didn't know you cared so much about Spike. Are you sure you're not gay?" Buffy said drily.

"I'm sure." Xander said. "And it wasn't for Spike. It's just... well, I'm not Giles' biggest fan right now."

"So I gathered. The whole house gathered. You weren't exactly quiet."

"Sorry."

"Doesn't matter. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Xander answered shortly.

"Okay. Patrolling the streets in companionable silence it is then."

They walked in silence for several minutes, before Xander suddenly said "Rory didn't actually break up with me, you know."

"Oh?" Buffy said noncommittally.

"She couldn't deal with this. All of this, you know, what we do. And Giles gave me an amulet that would make her forget all about it. So she did. Only she forget me too, and Giles conveniently didn't mention that part. I'm still wondering if he had some ulterior motive or other in not telling me. This thing with Spike was just the icing on the cake."

"Oh, _Xander_. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. We've got an apocalypse on the way, anyway. I shouldn't be thinking about this kind of thing."

"It doesn't work if you just suppress it, Xan. It comes bubbling up. Trust me, after the whole Angelus thing I was a mess. You'll get through it, but it's easier if you just let it out. You could even do something stupid like run of to LA and become a waitress if you like."

Xander let out a short burst of laughter at that. "I don't think I could carry off the uniform for that. I don't do well with skirts."

"Hey! Waitresses can wear trousers too, you know. It's an equal world." Buffy said lightly.

"It's definitely something to think about."

"It gets better, Xan. Eventually."

"Well, if the world doesn't end, we'll see how that goes. Still, I miss her, Buff."

"I know the feeling."

"You miss her too? You only met her for about two minutes. Are you sure you're not the gay one?"

Buffy elbowed him. "You're such a goofball."

"Oh, I know. It's all part of my charm." Xander said, smiling for what felt like the first time in months. Well, actually, it probably had been a few months. "Anyway, thanks, Buff."

"Any time."

They continued to walk without speaking for a few minutes. Then Buffy said "You know, if you catch Anya in a good mood, she might contact one of her Vengeance Demon friends and see if any of them will curse Giles for you."

Xander chuckled. "I think you might have better luck there than me. After all, Spike's your - well, he's your whatever he is."

~*~

After Jess went to go and see how the fixing of his car was going, Rory went to Luke's.

"Hey, Rory. D'you want some coffee? Please say yes, because my sister and her latest boyfriend are upstairs and I'm taking any excuse not to have to go up there and talk to him."

"Well, I never turn down free coffee." Rory said, sitting down. "And you are in your mid-morning lull, so distractions are a little scarce at the moment. But that's not what I came for. I wanted to talk to you about something."

Luke's expression went thunderous. "What did Jess do?"

"Nothing!" Rory assured him hurriedly. "We just talked a little. Nothing major."

"Right." Luke said, dubiously.

"But, um, I was wondering, if Jess wanted to, you know, come back, would you want him? I mean, would you let him stay with you?"

"Yes. Of course. He's welcome here any time."

Rory took a sip of her coffee. "Does he know that? I mean, you did kind of kick him out because he didn't graduate."

Luke sighed. "I know. But I didn't really mean it like that."

"Sometimes we say things a little harsher than we mean to." Rory said, then winced. Oh yeah, the headache that had been building since she'd seen Jess that morning had finally struck with a vengeance.

"You alright?" Luke said, concerned.

Rory waved away his concern. "Oh, sure. It's just a headache. It'll be gone in a minute. Still, if Jess can stay, you should make sure he knows."

~*~

Jess found her, later. There wasn't any running away. She was waiting outside a stall for a burger, when suddenly Jess was standing there beside her.

He didn't speak for a minute. He just put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. Eventually he said "So. I hear you spoke to Luke."

Rory nodded. "I did."

"Do you want me to stay?"

"I didn't want you to leave in the middle of the night in the first place." Rory replied.

"Fair enough." Jess answered, not bothering to point that he'd actually left in the morning, not the middle of the night. "Still, do you want me stay?"

"Only if you want to. Don't just stay because I'm here."

"I'm not staying. Not just yet. There's a few things-"

"-you have to work through? Yeah, you said."

Jess took a long pull on his cigarette. "I know that this isn't good timing, what with me leaving town again, but... I love you, Rory."

He left, not waiting for Rory to reply. Rory watched him go, and tried to think about a man she couldn't remember.


	19. Chapter 19

Faith was back in town. Xander didn't really know how he felt about that. Given that she had slept with him only to later try to kill him, it was understandable that he might have mixed emotions about her.

So when Xander came down into the kitchen, only to discover the unusual situation of there not being a Summers, a Potential, or one of the Scoobies in it, Xander was glad. That is, until about second later when he realised that the reason no one was in there was because Faith was sitting on the kitchen island, smoking.

Still, never let it be said that Xander ran from the women that he slept with. Especially when he was in a house with people who were perfectly capable of stopping Faith is she tried to kill him. "Oh, hey, Faith."

Faith didn't look around. "Hi there."

Unfortunately, Xander was cursed with the ability to never leave a situation alone. He could've made his dinner in silence and left - or better still, he could've left right then. Instead, he said "Soooo... how're you doing?"

Faith blew an exceptionally lopsided smoke ring. "Five by five."

"Was prison alright?" Xander asked, then mentally kicked himself.

Faith turned to look at him. "Oh, yeah." she drawled. "It was just dandy. We sat around and braided each other's hair and ate candy."

"Well, that certainly would've made The Shawshank Redemption into an entirely different film." Xander said, giving an award smile.

Faith snorted. "You haven't changed a bit."

"Oh, I think I have."

"Oh?"

"Well, I've got a reputation throughout Sunnydale for being a Viking in the sack now, for one."

Faith looked at him incredulously, then burst out laughing.

"Hey!" Xander said indignantly. "It's true!"

"Are you propositioning me, Xan?"

Xander flushed. "No. Sadly, my habit of saying wildly inappropriate things hasn't gone away."

"I don't know." Faith said, shrugging. "I could stand to hear some more inappropriate things. I've been in prison for a long time."

"Even if I did think about propositioning you, I'd be put off by the fact that you nearly killed me."

"Ha." Faith said mirthlessly. "I was wondering how long it would be before you rubbed my face in something."

"Well, you can rub my face in the fact that I left Anya at the altar if you like. Everyone else does."

"Oh, yeah. Red told me about that, on the way here. That's rough, man."

Xander looked at her uncertainly. "Are you _sympathizing_ with me? Didn't you here that it was me who left Anya at the altar, not the other way around?"

"No, I got that. But I know what it's like to walk out on something. It's not exactly fun."

"No, it isn't." Xander said. Then he blinked. "Hang on a second. Are you _bonding_ with me? You are, aren't you? Oh my God, you're trying to bond!"

"Shut up, Xander." Faith said calmly.

"Sorry. Got a little carried away there. It's just, I didn't know you were into the whole bondage thing."

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I didn't mean that." Xander said, rather pleased that his experience with Lorelai had more or less inured him against surprise awkward flirtation.

"Still, you're sure as hell thinking about it now, aren't you?"

"I am." Xander admitted. "I'd really rather not, but you paint a vivid image."

"Don't I just, Viking?"

"And now you've coloured it in." Xander said, eyes a little glassy. He shook his head as though to get the image out. "Anyway, onto completely different topics. I should probably mention that I'm not going to swear vengeance on you or anything for what you did."

"That's mighty swell of you." Faith said acidly.

"In fact, I'd even go so far as to say I'd forgive you for it."

"Aw hell." Faith spat. "Here comes the whole sanctimonious crap, huh? Damn, I was hoping we could skip that part."

Xander frowned. "Hey, I'm just trying to be nice here."

"Yeah, well, don't. I've made my peace with what I did. I don't you to tell me that you've forgiven me, because that ain't worth a damn."

"Well excuse me! You started this bonding thing here. I was happily bumbling around the kitchen being inappropriate! You're the one who made it all serious."

Faith slid off the island, tossing her cigarette butt in the sink. "I don't need this."

"Okay. Just walk away, then. Walk out. I mean, you mentioned how walking out wasn't something you really liked doing, but hey! Why not do it again!"

Faith's hands tightened into fists. With some effort, she managed to straighten them out. "Shut up. Just shut up."

Xander couldn't have shut up for all the luck in Ireland. The pressure of having a great big apocalypse in the works, while knowing that Rory wouldn't ever know if he died here (and that was looking increasingly likely) and knowing that the closest thing that he had to a father had been instrumental in that happening just got to Xander. He wanted to lash out. He probably would've done it even if Faith hadn't arrived. She was just the catalyst.

"No! I'm not going to shut up! If you-"

He didn't get further than that. Faith hit him in the temple. Xander dropped like a stone.

"Sorry about that, Xan. I don't really like that kind of fight. 'sides, speeches ain't never done a thing. Still, at least now you've got something else to forgive me for, eh?" Faith said to Xander's unconscious body.

~*~

After Jess' visit, the moments happened less and less frequently, and the sudden flash headaches stopped entirely. Rory put it down to some kind of strange deja-vu type thing brought on by the stress of her first year at university.

~*~

"Faith? The girl Shannon you found on the roadside's woken up. Said a preacher called Caleb did it. He said the Bringers were his 'boys'." Buffy said, starting to speak before she was even fully in the room. When she was, she immediately noticed Xander lying sprawled on the floor. "Faith? Do I want to know what happened here?"

Faith shrugged. "We started fighting. I might've hit him. Once."

"You _might've_ hit him?"

"I ain't going to admit anything. Sorry."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Faith shrugged again. "Slightly."

"Well, that's something." Buffy said drily. "Still, you should bring him up to his bedroom before one of the others see him and freaks."

"That's it?" Faith said, a little surprised. "You ain't going to yell at me or anything?"

"Nah. I've wanted to hit people whole bundles of times. I get the impulse. Besides, if you're sorry, then maybe you won't do it again."

"Cool. I'm digging the lack of righteous speeches, by the way."

Buffy shrugged. "Well, I am about to lead you and a bunch of teenaged girls into what is probably a trap. Speechifying isn't really the best idea right now. Besides, I might get a bunch of people killed, so what's the point in being angry at you knocking one guy out?"

"Cool."

"Although, if you do it again, I'll kill you."

"Fair enough."

~*~

It had been a trap. Definitely a trap. With two potentials dead and several others with broken limbs and knifes wounds, with none of the Potentials having managed to even scratch Caleb, what else could it have been? And if Kennedy hadn't brought in the back up squad when she had, things would've been a lot worse.

Buffy needed to talk to Giles. Which would be kind of awkward, given that neither of them had really talked since the Spike debacle. Still, it was important.

She caught Giles alone, and said "Hey, Giles? Can I ask you something?"

"I assume you mean something in addition to the question that you just asked?"

"Haha, very funny. I was wondering, could you make an amulet like the one you gave Xander for Rory?"

"No." Giles said bluntly. "I'm not powerful enough for that."

Buffy sagged. Well, that was her brilliant idea gone out of the window.

"I could, however, teach Willow how to. Maybe." Giles added.

"Oh, great! Would you?"

"Why? Who do you want to give them too?"

"Xander and Dawn. I was thinking that, if they're given fake memories, then they could get out in case, you know, things don't end well here. I can't do it to the Potentials, the Bringers would hunt them down anyway, and I need Willow, but maybe I could save those two."

"Ah. No. It won't work."

"Why not?"

"Erasing someone's knowledge of the supernatural when they've only known about it for a few months as an abstract concept is one thing, but blotting out seven years of memories of fighting demons and vampires on a nearly daily basis is just too much. The amulet isn't that strong. And then there's the fact that the Order of Dagon already gave Dawn a bunch of implanted memories. Who knows what would happen if they were tampered with?"

"Oh. Okay."

"You might want to ask Willow is she can devise a stronger spell - although, given her history with memory spells, I doubt she would agree."

"Okay. Thanks anyway." Buffy said. "It looks like we're all here for the duration."


	20. Chapter 20

Rory knew that Connecticut could get cold. She'd always known that. But she should've known better than to drive down to Florida to get warm and spend spring break doing all the stereotypical things that college girls did. She wasn't that kind of girl.

Admittedly, spending some time on the beach had been fun. Drinking spiked punch, not so much. Suddenly getting kissed by Paris in the middle of a crowded club (Paris didn't quite seem to grasp that Madeline and Louise were exceptionally air headed, and following their example was exceptionally stupid) had _really_ not been fun.

Hence her coming back early.

Lorelai seemed subdued when she came home. She kept darting quick glances at Rory. At first, Rory thought that it was because Jason had given her the key to his apartment.

"So, you haven't seen the news, then?" Lorelai asked suddenly, in the middle of recounting the incredibly awkward key giving.

Rory, thrown by the sudden subject change, simply shook her head.

"I, uh, recorded it. Because I thought you might want to see it here. You know, before you see it in a paper or something."

"Why? What happened?" Rory asked, a little nervously.

"Su- I think that it would probably be best if you saw it."

So Rory did. She watched the footage of the crater that had once been Sunnydale. She heard experts saying that they didn't fully understand what had happened.

Rory watched it, and felt as though her ribs were gradually contracting, forcing the air out of her lungs and making her heart ache. But she didn't know why - she'd seen disasters before, and they had never had anywhere near the same effect.

Then, she felt as though her brain was expanding, pushing up against her skull. It hurt. Rory knew that there were no nerve centres in the brain, and she knew that her brain wasn't really expanding, so it couldn't really hurt, but she still felt it.

After that, the pain in her head contracted, concentrating on a single area in the centre of her head. Rory felt as though a spike had been driven through her head. She couldn't think about anything else. There wasn't anything else.

Rory never knew exactly how long she sat there like that. Lorelai said afterwards that it couldn't have been more than a few seconds, but Rory disagreed. An eternity could never last so short a time.

Eventually, Rory came back to herself. She felt normal. Her chest felt fine. Her head felt fine. Oddly, though, her hand was really hurting.

Rory looked down, and was mildly surprised to see that her hand was so tightly clenched around a necklace of some sort that it had cut into her palm. The necklace was strangely cold.

Then it all came crashing back. Everything she'd forgotten.

Rory looked up, and it was only then that she realised that she was crying.

~*~

To say that Xander's first thought upon escaping the sink hole that had swallowed Sunnydale was of Rory would be sickeningly sweet.

It would also be untrue. Life didn't work like that.

What Xander really thought was "OhmyGodI'malive!" and felt startling euphoric because he had survived. It took some time before Xander managed to process anything beyond that.

Then the adrenaline rush that had kept him going for the last few minutes wore off, and Xander sat down. It was either that or fall. He didn't think that his legs would've supported him for much longer. It was then that Xander began to look around and take stock of the other survivors.

That was a rather sobering experience. There were a lot fewer of them than those who had descended into the cavern to fight the Turok-Han. Almost all of them were supporting some visible injury. Some of them looked like they were lucky to even be alive.

Andrew came, and told Xander about Anya's death. Xander didn't cry, although he suspected that he would, later. It wasn't quite real yet. Not to him.

It was then that Xander thought of Rory. He didn't think about the fact that, with every Potential in the world now a Slayer and the Hellmouth closed, the forces of Good were finally strong enough that he could retire and move to Stars Hollow.

No, Xander realised that Rory wouldn't know that he was alive. She wouldn't know that he even existed. She would go through her life, entirely unaware of the man who'd introduced her to a new a world and refused to leave it for her.

He knew that Lorelai would tell her about Sunnydale. Even if she didn't, Rory would find out anyway. This kind of thing couldn't be hidden. But the amulet would take care of that. He didn't know how. But if it could put Rory on a plane home when she hadn't even known that one existed, it could deal with the fact that Sunnydale didn't exist anymore.

Rory wouldn't remember him, and she'd be all the better for it.

~*~

Rory remembered him. She remembered their first kiss, the way her it had felt when he'd touched her, the feeling of his eyes on her. Their first proper date. She remembered forgetting him, and all the little moments since then when she'd come so close to remembering. The headaches that had made her forget. She remembered everything.

She wished she didn't. Not because of the supernatural. But because, if Xander was dead, she didn't want to remember him. She didn't want to have to deal with the pain of knowing that she would never see him again.

"He might not be... he might have gotten out, you know." Lorelai said. "They said that a lot of people left before the town collapsed."

For a second, Rory hoped. But she didn't believe that. She knew what Sunnydale was. If it was gone, then Xander would've gone with it. She knew that.

Still, Lorelai wouldn't. So, for her sake, Rory said "Maybe."

Lorelai embraced her. Rory buried her face in Lorelai's shoulder and tried very hard not to start crying harder. If she started, she didn't think she'd stop. Ever.

Rory clung to her mother. As long as she did, the rest of the world didn't matter. Nothing else but this had ever happened.

Rory dropped the amulet on the floor. Lorelai noticed, and saw the blood on it, but she didn't comment. She didn't speak at all. Words weren't needed. Words would only make things worse. Words would make things real.

Eventually, when Rory felt like she might be able to let go without the world coming to an end - or at least the part of it that contained her - she let go and scrubbed vigorously at her eyes with a sleeve.

Lorelai didn't know what to say. She couldn't ask how Rory was, because that would be stupid. She knew how she was. And just saying sorry was incredibly trite. Eventually, she settled on "Would you like some coffee?"

Rory blinked, mildly surprised that such a thing as coffee still existed in the world. She nodded, not quite trusting herself to speak.

Lorelai wrapped an arm around Rory and gently steered her towards the kitchen. Rory rent with her, then broke off and came back to pick up the amulet before coming back.

Lorelai knew that now was hardly the time to ask where the amulet came from, but she couldn't think of anything else to say. She'd thought of millions of things to say when she'd seen the news while Rory was still on her flight back from Florida, but they'd all left her head when she saw her daughter crying.

Besides, perhaps a little distraction, no matter how superficial, was exactly what was needed. So Lorelai asked "Where'd you get the necklace?"

Rory went to the tap, washing the blood off it and cleaning her hand. Even under hot water, the necklace didn't warm up. She remembered how warm it had been when she'd first held it. She guessed that, now that the spell was broken, it wouldn't be any more. It would stay cold.

Well. That was certainly fitting.

Eventually, Rory said in a raspy voice "Xa- he gave it to me." She couldn't bring herself to say his name. "It's why we broke up."

"Oh, honey. I'm sorry."

Rory nodded, not looking up from the amulet in her hand. She said "So am I." in a small, inaudible voice.

~*~

Xander kept busy after Sunnydale. As it turned out, finding Slayers across the world and telling them what they were and what had happened wasn't as easy as one might think.

It did get easier, though, as the weeks went by, with more and more Slayers joining them, and Giles finding the retired Watchers that hadn't been there when Caleb had blown the others up. They all helped out. The Watchers' Council had properties all over the world, and a great deal of money. Things were easier with that. Xander no longer needed to be out in the field quite so often.

But he took every chance he got. While he was out there, doing something, he didn't have time to think. Sometimes, he could even forget about the hollow ball that had taken up permanent residence in his chest.

~*~

Rory tried to keep busy, too. But there's only so many hours in a day that can be spent on diverting tasks. At night, especially, as Rory was going to sleep, she couldn't help but think about him. She could never bring herself to so much as think his name.

She cried herself to sleep most nights.

And, through it all, Rory wore the amulet that was now nothing more than a necklace.


	21. Chapter 21

Author's note: I must thank everyone for the vast outpouring of support that this story has received. Special thanks to HonorInSilence, for sharing some brilliant ideas with me, many of which found their way into this story. Without that, this story probably would've foundered a long time ago.

Sadly, we've come to the end of this fic. I've really enjoyed writing it.

Fortunately, though, this isn't the end of the story. There will be a sequel.

~*~

Jess didn't read self-help books. He just didn't. He wasn't that kind of guy. The fact that he was actually reading one was irrelevant - as long as no one could _see_ him doing it, it didn't count. Hence it being hidden behind a magazine.

He was back in Stars Hollow. Not permanently, Jess didn't think he was ready for that, but his mother, Liz, was getting married (for about the fifth time) and Luke wanted him to be there. He didn't particularly care that Liz wanted him to give her away. His experience with her boyfriends and past husbands was - well, to call it bad was an understatement.

Still, Luke wanted him to be there, and Jess owed Luke. Besides, Rory might be there, and maybe, just maybe, they could have that normal conversation about normal things like normal people that she'd promised all those months ago.

But, in the meantime, Jess was sitting on a bench in the town square, reading a disguised self-help book in the rather sceptical hopes that he might be able to learn how to be a better person, but, more importantly, find out how to get Rory back.

Jess nearly launched like a rocket when Rory sat down next to him. He shut his magazine on the book so that she couldn't see what he was doing.

It was only then that Jess saw that it wasn't actually Rory. Sure, bright blue eyes, thin body, dark hair that was all there. She even looked the same age. But it wasn't Rory.

"So, everyone else is watching that guy over there flailing around trying to get the wedding set up, or is helping that guy flail." she said conversationally. "Except you. So what're you doing?"

"Reading." Jess said flatly, getting up.

The girl followed him. "Yeah, I saw that. I can also see the book that you've got wrapped in the magazine. What're you reading there? Mein Kampf? The Fountainhead?"

"It's called "None of your business" by G.O. Away." Jess replied.

"Oh, hilarious. There was me thinking that you were reading something controversial and interesting."

"Look, quit following me already, okay? Whatever you want, go get it somewhere else."

The girl shrugged. "I would, but my guardian was distracted by the book shop, and he told me to have a look around the town. It's a small town."

Jess smiled at that. "Oh, I know that. Believe me. But go bother someone else, will you?"

"Dawn."

"Dusk."

"What?"

"I thought we were naming random times of day."

"Why would we do that?"

"I don't know. I assumed that anyone who'd come and pester someone they've never met must be a little crazy."

"Dawn's my name."

"Ah." Jess said, and continued walking.

Dawn waited for a moment to see if he would reply. He didn't, so she prompted him. "And you are?"

"Might I refer you to the title and author of my book?" Jess said drily.

"Okay, I'll leave you in peace. I'll just go and break into the school." Dawn said brightly.

Jess turned and watched as Dawn sauntered off to the school building as though she hadn't a care in the world. She really was going to break in.

Jess was tempted to leave her to it, but, well, this was _interesting_. Having something interesting happen in Stars Hollow was a rarity. Well, unless it was him making the something interesting happen.

Besides, he was the bad boy in this town. It had been him who'd stolen some police tape and drawn a chalk outline of a body outside Taylor's market. Jess wasn't going to let someone break into a school without being there. It would ruin his reputation.

But, more importantly, it would be fun.

Jess shook his head and went after her.

~*~

Dawn hadn't gone very far. She was examining the pictures on the wall. More specifically, a picture of Rory taking part in some asinine school event.

"Ah, I knew you wouldn't be able to resist." Dawn said without looking up.

"How, exactly, did you know that?"

"You smell of cigarette smoke. Sure sign of a bad boy."

Jess snorted. "Ha. And there I was cutting back."

"You probably should." Dawn agreed. "Smoking doesn't really work out unless you're a vampire."

Jess frowned at the statement, but let it pass. "Kind of surprising to see a Gilmore doing something naughty. Didn't think you had it in you."

Dawn looked up at him, clearly baffled. "What?"

Jess tilted his head. "What are you, Rory's cousin? I didn't know she had one."

Understanding dawned on Dawn. "Oh, no. I'm not related to Rory. Not at all. I've only ever met her for about five minutes."

"Funny." Jess said. "You look like you could be sisters."

Dawn shrugged. "We aren't."

"Okay."

"So, this your school?" Dawn asked, gesturing.

"It was. I failed to graduate last year." Jess admitted.

"Lazy?"

"Yup."

"I was meant to graduate this year, but that kind of didn't work out. So I'm looking at schools to see where I can finish high school. A friend said that this is a nice town, so I thought I'd come see what it's like."

"It's a bloody small, boring town is what is."

Dawn smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Whoa, hold on there, Spike. I could really do with a small boring town right now."

Jess looked at her closely. Apparently, Dawn wasn't actually the perky, extroverted friend she appeared to be. Well, wasn't that interesting?

"I could give you a tour, if you like." Jess offered. "I might just about have spent enough time here to figure out where everything is."

"Sure. I'd like that."

They walked on. Jess asked "So, why didn't you graduate?"

"My entire town collapsed into a giant crater."

"No kidding?"

~*~

Lorelai sat herself down at the bar. "Coffee?"

Luke shook his head. "Somehow, Liz got behind the counter and managed to pour all my coffee in the bin. She's just gone to get as much as she can from Doose's, but it'll be a while."

Lorelai was about to launch into a diatribe about how a diner should have an infinite supply of coffee - as should anywhere in the entire universe - when a bespectacled gentleman in a suit slid his mug over to her.

"Here. You can have mine." he said in an English accent. "Don't worry, I haven't drunk any."

"Thanks." Lorelai said warmly.

Bespectacled Guy stood to leave. "No problem. You look like you need it."

Luke looked thoughtfully at the man as he walked to the door. "I could've sworn I just served that guy tea."

Lorelai sniffed her mug. "Nope, definitely coffee."

Luke shrugged. "Oh well. Anyway, Lorelai, I wanted to ask-"

"Excuse me, did you say Lorelai?" Bespectacled Guy said, coming back.

"Yes." Luke said warily.

"You're Rory's mother?"

"I am. Why? Has something happened?"

"Not exactly. But could you give this to her?" He handed Lorelai an unmarked envelope. Lorelai took it. He walked out.

"Luke, just hold on a moment." Lorelai said, before hurrying out after Bespectacled Guy. "Who are you?"

"I think you'd best ask your daughter that."

"What is this?" Lorelai asked, holding up the envelope.

"It's an apology." Seeing Lorelai's nonplussed expression, Bespectacled Guy said "You can open it if you like."

Lorelai did. Two thirds of it she didn't understand, but one third she understood very well. She'd give it to Rory.

"Who are you?" Lorelai asked again.

"Rupert Giles, if you must know. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really must find D-" Giles stopped, smiled and said "My daughter. I've got to find my daughter."

~*~

Later, Rory sat, staring at the contents of the envelope that Lorelai had given her.

The first item was a necklace with a curious design on the pendant. It was strangely warm.

The second was a piece of paper with a symbol drawn on it. It was the mirror image of the design on the amulet.

On the other side of the piece of paper was a note, and it was this that Rory was staring at.

It was a phone number. Below it, it said three words. Never had three words been subjected to such scrutiny.

_Xander is alive._


End file.
